Sheffield City Council
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Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently controlled by the Liberal Democrats and led by Paul Scriven.
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[edit] History
The council was founded as the Corporation of Sheffield in 1843, when Sheffield was incorporated (see History of Sheffield). In 1889 it attained county borough status. In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972, reconstituted the City Council as the council metropolitan district, in the metropolitan county of South Yorkshire, governed also by South Yorkshire County Council. It established a system of 90 councillors, three to each of 30 districts. This was reduced in 1980 with the merger of the Attercliffe and Darnall wards to 87 councillors in 29 wards.
The abolition of metropolitan county councils in 1986 saw Sheffield City Council effectively regain its county borough status.
In 2004, the wards were completely reorganised, producing 28 new wards and 84 councillors.
[edit] Political control
Elections to Sheffield City Council are by thirds, in three years of every four. 2004 saw new boundaries and therefore all seats were contested.
See Sheffield local elections for more detail.
For twenty years from 1846, Isaac Ironside's Central Democratic Association was a force on the council. It then returned to typical Conservative-Liberal rivalry. Labour made little impact in its early years; by 1918, there were only three Labour councillors (and two Liberal-Labour, plus one Lib-Lab alderman). That all changed in 1919; Labour won almost all the seats up for election that year, giving them 12 and their coalition partners the Co-operative Party two. In response to their losses, the Conservative and Liberal groups merged to form the Citizens Association, retaining control with 32 councillors and 15 aldermen. The Lib-Labs remained unchanged in numbers and politically between the two groups.[1]
| Year | Conservative | Liberal | Liberal Unionist | Lib-Lab | Labour | Others[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1881 | 34 | 30 | - | - | - | - |
| 1882 | 34 | 30 | - | - | - | - |
| 1883 | 36 | 28 | - | - | - | - |
| 1884 | 34 | 30 | - | - | - | - |
| 1885 | 33 | 31 | - | - | - | - |
| 1886 | 31 | 29 | 4 | - | - | - |
| 1887 | 30 | 30 | 4 | - | - | - |
| 1888 | 29 | 30 | 5 | - | - | - |
| 1889 | 30 | 30 | 5 | - | - | - |
| 1890 | 29 | 31 | 4 | - | - | - |
| 1891 | 30 | 31 | 3 | - | - | - |
| 1892 | 31 | 30 | 3 | - | - | - |
| 1893 | 36 | 25 | - | 3 | - | - |
| 1894 | 37 | 24 | - | 3 | - | - |
| 1895 | 39 | 22 | - | 3 | - | - |
| 1896 | 38 | 22 | - | 4 | - | - |
| 1897 | 36 | 23 | - | 6 | - | - |
| 1898[3] | 32 | 25 | - | 5 | - | - |
| 1899 | 34 | 25 | - | 5 | - | - |
| 1900 | 35 | 23 | - | 6 | - | - |
| 1901 | 29 | 29 | - | 6 | - | - |
| 1902 | 32 | 26 | - | 6 | - | - |
| 1903[3] | 32 | 26 | - | 5 | - | - |
| 1904 | 34 | 24 | - | 6 | - | - |
| 1905 | 30 | 26 | - | 7 | 1 | - |
| 1906 | 30 | 25 | - | 6 | 3 | - |
| 1907 | 31 | 24 | - | 5 | 4 | - |
| 1908 | 35 | 22 | - | 4 | 3 | - |
| 1909 | 35 | 22 | - | 4 | 3 | - |
| 1910[3] | 33 | 23 | - | 5 | 2 | - |
| 1911 | 29 | 30 | - | 4 | 1 | - |
| 1912 | 31 | 30 | - | 3 | - | - |
| 1913 | 32 | 27 | - | 3 | 2 | - |
| 1919 | 26 | 22 | - | - | 13 | 3 |
| 1920 | 24 | 21 | - | - | 13 | 6 |
Labour continued to advance at the expense of the Citizens Association. By 1922, there were 18 Labour councillors and one alderman; by 1925, 22 councillors and one alderman. At the 1926 elections, Labour rose to 29 councillors. A majority on the council and a large number of retiring aldermen finally enabled them to take 8 positions on the aldermanic bench.[1]
The seats were redistributed into 24 wards in 1930, and the Citizens Association renamed itself the Progressive Party, and a further seat was added for Norton in 1934, taking the total number of positions to 75 councillors and 25 aldermen. That year, Labour briefly lost control, but regained it in 1934, with an increased majority of 12. This rose to 14 the following year. In 1945, Labour had 59 total seats to the Progressive's 39, one independent and one Communist. Labour continued to build its majority, to 34 in 1952 and 42 by 1958.[1] However, it lost control to the Conservative Party, again standing on its own, in 1968-9.
| Year | Labour | Citizens' Association / Municipal Progressive |
Ind. Conservative | Ind. Liberal | Ind. Labour Party | Communist | Others[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 19 | 38 | 1 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| 1922 | 20 | 40 | - | 2 | - | - | 6 |
| 1923 | 22 | 40 | 1 | 3 | - | - | 2 |
| 1924 | 24 | 38 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - |
| 1925 | 24 | 39 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - |
| 1926 | 38 | 25 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| 1927 | 39 | 24 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| 1928 | 41 | 23 | ? | - | - | - | 1 |
| 1929 | 63 | 22 | 9 | ? | - | - | ? |
| 1930 | 57 | ? | ? | ? | - | - | ? |
| 1931 | 49 | ? | ? | ? | 1 | - | ? |
| 1932 | 41 | ? | ? | ? | 1 | - | ? |
| 1933 | 50 | ? | ? | ? | - | - | ? |
| 1934 | 56 | ? | ? | ? | - | - | ? |
| 1935 | 57 | ? | ? | ? | - | - | ? |
| 1936 | ? | ? | ? | ? | - | - | ? |
| 1937 | ? | ? | ? | ? | - | - | ? |
| 1938 | 53 | ? | ? | ? | - | - | ? |
| 1945 | 59 | 39 | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| 1946 | 63 | 36 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| 1947 | 68 | ? | ? | ? | - | - | ? |
| 1949 | 64 | ? | ? | ? | - | - | ? |
The council remained Labour through its reorganisation under the Local Government Act 1972, from 1973 to 1999, when the Liberal Democrats took control of the council. It shifted to No Overall Control in 2002, with Labour taking leadership of the council. They took an absolute majority at the 2003 election, but lost it again in 2007.
| Year | Labour | Liberal Democrats | Conservative | Green | Independent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 69 | 3 | 18 | - | - |
| 1975 | 68 | 4 | 18 | - | - |
| 1976 | 67 | 5 | 18 | - | - |
| 1978 | 66 | 6 | 18 | - | - |
| 1979 | 66 | 6 | 18 | - | - |
| 1980 | 60 | 9 | 18 | - | - |
| 1982 | 60 | 9 | 18 | - | - |
| 1983 | 60 | 9 | 18 | - | - |
| 1984 | 61 | 9 | 17 | - | - |
| 1986 | 65 | 9 | 13 | - | - |
| 1987 | 65 | 9 | 13 | - | - |
| 1988 | 66 | 9 | 12 | - | - |
| 1990 | 69 | 7 | 10 | - | 1 |
| 1991 | 70 | 6 | 11 | - | - |
| 1992 | 69 | 8 | 10 | - | - |
| 1994 | 56 | 22 | 8 | - | 1 |
| 1995 | 58 | 25 | 4 | - | - |
| 1996 | 55 | 31 | 1 | - | - |
| 1998 | 50 | 36 | 1 | - | - |
| 1999 | 39 | 47 | 1 | - | - |
| 2000 | 37 | 49 | 1 | - | - |
| 2002 | 43 | 42 | 2 | - | - |
| 2003 | 49 | 36 | 1 | - | - |
| 2004 | 44 | 37 | 2 | 1 | - |
| 2006 | 44 | 35 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2007 | 41 | 39 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2008 | 36 | 45 | - | 3 | - |
[edit] Leaders
A list of leaders of Sheffield City Council from 1901.[5]
- 1901: William Clegg (Liberal)
- 1903: Herbert Hughes (Conservative)
- 1905: William Clegg (Liberal)
- 1907: Herbert Hughes (Conservative)
- 1911: William Clegg (Liberal, Citizens from 1920)
- 1926: Ernest Rowlinson (Labour)
- 1932: Arthur Blanchard (Municipal Progressive)
- 1933: Ernest Rowlinson (Labour)
- 1941: William Asbury (Labour)
- 1942: Frank Thraves (Labour)
- 1946: J. H. Bingham (Labour)
- 19??: Grace Tebbutt (Labour)
- 1966: Ron Ironmonger (Labour)
- 1968: ? (Conservative)
- 1969: Ron Ironmonger (Labour)
- 1974: George Wilson (Labour)
- 1980: David Blunkett (Labour)
- 1987: Clive Betts (Labour)
- 1992: Mike Bower (Labour)
- 1997: Jan Wilson (Labour)
- 1999: Peter Moore (Lib Dem)
- 2002: Jan Wilson (Labour)
[edit] See also
[edit] Council as service provider and employer
Sheffield City Council provides approximately 550 services to its citizens. It is also a major employer in the city, with more than 18,000 employees, including all state school staff in its role as Local Education Authority (LEA).
Services and employees are organised into 4 directorates:
- Chief Executive's Directorate - responsible for corporate resources, legal and governance, organisational development, communications, policy and performance
- Children and Young People's Directorate - equivalent to an LEA and responsible for early years, primary, secondary and special schools, looked-after children and youth offending
- Development, Environment and Leisure - responsible for planning, environmental regulation, parks and countryside, street maintenance and cleanliness, and cultural activities such as libraries and museums
- Neighbourhoods and Community Care - responsible for housing and neighbourhood renewal, local action and partnership, and adult social services, including physical disability, learning disability and older people
Other functions are performed by partners and contractors of the council:
- Sheffield Homes manages the social housing stock
- Kier Sheffield maintains and repairs the social housing stock
- Veolia manages household waste disposal
[edit] References
- ^ a b c J. Mendelson, W. Owen, S. Pollard and V. M. Thornes, The Sheffield Trades and Labour Council 1858 - 1958
- ^ Discharged Soldiers and Sailors Association, Middle Classes Union, National Democratic and Labour Party and one candidate elected in 1920 after the formation of the Citizen's Association.
- ^ a b c Some seats were vacant during this session.
- ^ Discharged Soldiers and Sailors Association, Middle Classes Union and National Democratic and Labour Party in the 1920s and some independents later.
- ^ Clyde Binfield et al, The History of the City of Sheffield 1843-1993. Volume I: Politics
- 1999 results (in detail)
- 2000 results (in detail)
- 2002 results (in detail)
- 2003 results (in detail)
- 2004 results (in detail)
- 2006 results (in detail)
- 2007 results (in detail)
- Results 1974 - 2003
