Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, or simply Wirral Council, is the local authority of the

Metropolitan Borough of Wirral The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It has a population of 321,238, and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wir ...

, England. It is a

metropolitan district council A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolit ...

, one of five in Merseyside and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of local government services in Wirral. It is a constituent council of

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) is the combined authority of the Liverpool City Region. The Liverpool City Region includes the City of Liverpool local authority area plus the Metropolitan Boroughs of Knowsley, St Helens, ...

History

The current local authority was first elected in 1973, a year before formally coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the

on 1 April 1974. The council gained

borough status Borough status is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district. In Scotland, ...

, entitling it to be known as Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.

Timeline

*1973 First election. *1974 Metropolitan borough of Wirral established. *1975 Conservatives take control of council. *1986 Council falls under No Overall Control. *1991 Labour take control of the council for the first time. *1992 Council falls under No Overall Control. *1995 Labour take control of the council. *2002 Council falls under No Overall Control. *200506 Hilary Jones (Hoylake and Meols) becomes UKIP's first (and last) representation on the council. Elected as a Conservative (later resigning the whip in 2004). *2008 Last Liberal Democrat gain until 2019. *2011 Liberal Democrat leader, and then Deputy Leader of the council, Simon Holbrook loses his Prenton seat to Labour's Paul Doughty after 12 years as a councillor. *2012 Labour take control of the council. *2013 Last Conservative Gain in Leasowe and Moreton East by-election (lost in the following years election). *2014 Greens make first gain in Wirral with Pat Cleary ousting Labour's, then cabinet member for the environment, Brian Kenny in their traditionally safe seat of Birkenhead and Tranmere. *2015 Last Labour gain. *2019 Council falls under No Overall Control, first net gain for the Liberal Democrats since 2008.

Council leadership

Leader of the Council and Cabinet

Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Cabinet

Mayor of Wirral

The Mayor of Wirral (or Civic Mayor of Wirral) is a ceremonial post elected annually, along with a deputy, by Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. The role of the mayor includes chairing council meetings, representing the Borough at civic functions, supporting local charities and conferring Honorary Freemen and Aldermen. The incumbent mayor and deputy mayor are Cllr George Davies and Cllr Jeff Green.

Wards and councillors

Each ward is represented by three councillors.

Political makeup

Only four parties have won seats to Council:

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

, Labour and Liberal Democrat (and its predecessors). All other political representation has come via

changes in affiliation Changes may refer to: Books * ''Changes'', the 12th novel in Jim Butcher's ''The Dresden Files'' Series * ''Changes'', a novel by Danielle Steel * ''Changes'', a trilogy of novels on which the BBC TV series was based, written by Peter Dickinson ...

Leaders

Leaders and control

Since the first election to the council in 1973 political control of the council has been held by the following parties:

Party leaders

Notes

References

External links

Wirral CouncilWirral ConservativesWirral Green PartyWirral LabourWirral Lib Dems
{{Wirral Tramway Metropolitan district councils of England Local authorities in Merseyside Leader and cabinet executives Local education authorities in England Billing authorities in England 1974 establishments in England

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...