Worcester City Council
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Louis Stephen,
Green
since 16 May 2023[1]
Lynn Denham,
Labour
Marjory Bisset,
Green
since 16 May 2023
David Blake
since March 2017[2]
Structure
Seats35 councillors
Political groups
  Labour (13)
  Green (11)
  Conservative (7)
  Liberal Democrats (4)
Length of term
4 years
Elections
Last election
4 May 2023
Next election
2024
Meeting place
The Guildhall, High Street, Worcester, WR1 2EY
Website
www.worcester.gov.uk

Worcester City Council is the local authority for Worcester, a non-metropolitan district with city status in Worcestershire, England. The council consists of 35 councillors, elected from 15 wards.

History

Worcester was an ancient borough which had held city status from time immemorial. The city became a municipal borough in 1836, governed by a body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and citizens of the city of Worcester", but generally known as the corporation or city council.[3] When elected county councils were established in 1889, Worcester was considered large enough to run its own county-level services and so it became a county borough, independent from the surrounding Worcestershire County Council.[4]

In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the city had its territory enlarged, gaining the parishes of Warndon and St Peter the Great County and it became a non-metropolitan district, with Hereford and Worcester County Council providing county-level services.[5] Worcester retained its borough status, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, whilst its city status was re-conferred on the enlarged district, allowing the council to take the name Worcester City Council.[6][7] Hereford and Worcester was abolished in 1998, since when a re-established Worcestershire County Council has been the upper-tier authority for Worcester.[8]

Political control

The city council has been under no overall control since the 2022 election. The Conservatives were the largest party after that election and formed a minority administration until the 2023 election when they did not win any of the seats they were contesting, and the Conservative leader of the council, Chris Mitchell, lost his seat. Labour became the largest party at the 2023 election, with the Conservatives falling back to third place behind the Green Party.[9] The Labour and Green group leaders, Lynn Denham and Marjory Bisset, were subsequently appointed joint leaders of the council.[10] The next election is due in 2024.

The first elections to the city council as reformed under the Local Government Act 1972 were held in 1973, initially acting as a shadow authority until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been held by the following parties:[11][12][13]

Party in controlYears
No overall control1974–1976
Conservative1976–1980
Labour1980–1983
No overall control1983–1986
Labour1986–2000
No overall control2000–2003
Conservative2003–2007
No overall control2007–2011
Conservative2011–2012
No overall control2012–2015
Conservative2015–2016
No overall control2016–2021
Conservative2021–2022
No overall control2022–present

Leadership

The role of Mayor of Worcester is largely ceremonial, with political leadership instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2002 have been:[14]

CouncillorPartyFromToNotes
Stephen Inman[15] Conservative2002May 2006
Simon Geraghty ConservativeMay 200614 May 2013
Adrian Gregson Labour14 May 20133 Jun 2014
Simon Geraghty[16] Conservative3 Jun 20145 Feb 2016
Marc Bayliss Conservative23 Feb 201617 May 2016
Adrian Gregson Labour17 May 201627 Mar 2018
Marc Bayliss Conservative27 Mar 201829 Nov 2022[lower-alpha 1]
Chris Mitchell Conservative29 Nov 20227 May 2023
Lynn Denham Labour16 May 2023Joint leaders
Marjory Bisset Green
  1. ↑ Nominally "joint leader" after 17 May 2022, with provision made for Labour as second largest party to appoint another joint leader, but they chose not to do so.[17]

Premises

The city council is based at Worcester Guildhall on the High Street in the city centre.[18] The current guildhall was built in 1723 on a site which had been occupied by a guildhall since about 1227.[19]

Elections

Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council elected each time. Since the last boundary changes in 2004, 35 councillors have been elected from 15 wards.[20] Worcestershire County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no city council elections.

References

  1. ↑ "Civic Office". Worcester City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  2. ↑ "Management structure". Worcester City Council. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  3. ↑ Municipal Corporations Act 1835
  4. ↑ "Worcester Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  5. ↑ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 22 September 2022
  6. ↑ "District Councils and Boroughs, 28 March 1974". Hansard. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  7. ↑ "No. 46303". The London Gazette. 31 May 1974. p. 6486.
  8. ↑ "The Hereford and Worcester (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1996/1867, retrieved 29 September 2022
  9. ↑ "Worcester: Huge defeat for Tories as Labour biggest party". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  10. ↑ Barnett, Christian (16 May 2023). "Worcester City Council agrees to joint Labour and Green leaders". Worcester News. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  11. ↑ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  12. ↑ "Worcester". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  13. ↑ "Conservatives lose overall control of Worcester City Council". Worcester News. 20 September 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  14. ↑ "Council minutes". Worcester City Council. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  15. ↑ "Shock as council's top man quits job". Worcester News. 9 May 2006. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  16. ↑ Edwards, Tom (10 February 2016). "Tributes paid to Simon Geraghty's time as Worcester City Council leader - as new budget moves a step closer". Worcester News. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  17. ↑ "Council minutes, 17 May 2022" (PDF). Worcester City Council. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  18. ↑ "Worcester City Council". Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  19. ↑ "Worcester Guildhall". Discover Worcestershire. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  20. ↑ "The City of Worcester (Electoral Changes) Order 2002", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2002/3225, retrieved 22 September 2022
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