| Sheffield City Council | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | Metropolitan district council of Sheffield |
| Leadership | |
| Leader | Julie Dore, Labour |
| Members | 84 |
| Elections | |
| Voting system | First past the post |
| Last election | 5 May 2011 |
| Meeting place | |
| Sheffield Town Hall | |
| Website | |
| http://www.sheffield.gov.uk | |
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 under Labour control and led by Julie Dore.
Contents |
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 and in 1893 city status. In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972, reconstituted the City Council as a metropolitan district council of South Yorkshire, governed also by South Yorkshire County Council. It established a system of 90 councillors, three to each of 30 wards. 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.
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 | ? | ? | ? | - | - | ? |
| Year | Labour | Liberal | Conservative | Independent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 67 | - | 32 | 1 |
| 1961 | 67 | - | 32 | 1 |
| 1962 | 67 | - | 32 | 1 |
| 1963 | 73 | - | 27 | - |
| 1964 | 73 | - | 27 | - |
| 1965 | 72 | - | 28 | - |
| 1967 | 59 | - | 48 | 1 |
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. The Liberal Democrats controlled the council for the following 4 years, with Labour winning it again in 2011.
| 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 | - |
| 2010 | 39(40*) | 42(41*) | - | 2 | 1 |
| 2011 | 49 | 32 | - | 2 | 1 |
*Defection of Lib Dem Councillor to Labour in September 2010
A list of leaders of Sheffield City Council from 1901.[5]
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 5 'portfolios':
Other functions are performed by partners and contractors of the council: