Bath and North East Somerset Council
| Bath and North East Somerset Council | |
|---|---|
| Whole council elected every four years | |
|
Council logo | |
| Type | |
| Type |
Unitary authority council of Bath and North East Somerset |
| Houses | Unicameral |
Term limits | None |
| History | |
| Founded | 1 April 1996 |
| Preceded by |
Bath Borough Council Wansdyke District Council |
| Elections | |
Last election | 5 May 2011 |
Next election | 2015 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Guildhall, Bath | |
| Website | |
|
www | |
Bath and North East Somerset Council is the local council for the district of Bath and North East Somerset in Somerset, England.
It is a unitary authority, with the powers and functions of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined.
History
Historically part of the county of Somerset, Bath was made a county borough in 1889 so being independent of the newly created administrative Somerset county council, which covered the rest of B&NES.[1] The area that would become B&NES became part of Avon when that non-metropolitan county was created in 1974. Since the abolition of Avon in 1996, Bath has been the main centre of the district of Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), one of the four authorities that replaced Avon County Council.[2]
Before the Reform Act of 1832 Bath elected two members to the unreformed House of Commons.[3] Bath now has a single parliamentary constituency, with Liberal Democrat Don Foster as Member of Parliament. The rest of the area falls within the North East Somerset constituency.[4] Previously most of the area was in the Wansdyke constituency, which covers the part of B&NES that is not in the Bath constituency. It also contained four wards or parts of wards from South Gloucestershire Council. It was named after the former Wansdyke district.
Since B&NES was created, no political party has been in overall control of the council. The Liberal Democrats quickly became the dominant party, but in the local elections on 3 May 2007 the Conservative Party won 31 seats became the largest party, though they did not have a majority. After the 2011 local elections, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives won 29 seats each with the Labour Party winning only five seats, none of which are in Bath; the Liberal Democrats went on to form a minority administration.
Political control
No overall control 1995 – present.
The number of councillors by party was:
| Party | 2011[5] | 2007[6] | 2003[7] | 1999[8] | |||||
| Conservative Party | 29 | -3 | 31 | +5 | 26 | +10 | 16 | ||
| Labour Party | 5 | = | 5 | -1 | 6 | -11 | 17 | ||
| Liberal Democrats | 29 | +3 | 26 | -3 | 29 | -1 | 30 | ||
| Independent | 2 | = | 2 | -2 | 4 | +4 | 0 | ||
| Independent Labour | 0 | = | 0 | -2 | 2 | ||||
| No party | 0 | -1 | 1 | +1 | 0 | = | 0 | ||
| NOC (Con/LD Joint 1st) | NOC (Con 1st) | NOC (LD 1st) | NOC (LD 1st) | ||||||
See also
- Bath and North East Somerset local elections
References
- ↑ Keane, Patrick. "An English County and Education: Somerset, 1889–1902". The English Historical Review 88 (347): 286–311. doi:10.1093/ehr/LXXXVIII.CCCXLVII.286.
- ↑ "The Avon (Structural Change) Order 1995". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ↑ "Parliamentary Constituencies in the unreformed House". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 5 November 2007. Retrieved 9 December 2007.
- ↑ "Somerset North East: New Boundaries Calculation". Electoral Calculus: General Election Prediction. Retrieved 19 September 2007.
- ↑ "Local Election – Thursday, 5th May, 2011". Bath & North East Somerset Council. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ↑ "Local Election – Thursday, 3rd May, 2007". Bath & North East Somerset Council. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
- ↑ "Local Election – Thursday, 1st May, 2003". Bath & North East Somerset Council. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
- ↑ "Local Election – Thursday, 6th May, 1999". Bath & North East Somerset Council. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
External links
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