City of Doncaster Council is the local authority of the

City of Doncaster The City of Doncaster is a metropolitan borough with city status in the United Kingdom, city status in South Yorkshire, England. It is named after its principal settlement, Doncaster, and includes the surrounding suburbs of Doncaster as well as ...

, a

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

with

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a monarch, national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, ci ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, England. Prior to being awarded city status in 2022 the council was called Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council. The council is based at the Civic Office in Waterdale, central

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

. It is one of four local authorities in South Yorkshire and provides the majority of local government services in Doncaster. The council is a member of the

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) is the Combined authorities and combined county authorities, combined authority for South Yorkshire in England, with powers over transport (public transport and major trunk roads only), econ ...

. The council is led by a directly elected mayor. Since 2013 the post has been held by Ros Jones of the Labour Party.

History

The town of Doncaster was an

ancient borough An ancient borough was a historic unit of lower-tier local government in England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the co ...

, with its first known charter dating from 1194. The borough was reformed to become a

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

in 1836 under the

Municipal Corporations Act 1835 The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 ( 5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The le ...

, which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country. By 1927 the borough was considered large enough to run its own county-level services, and so it was made a county borough, independent from West Riding County Council. The county borough was abolished in 1974 and replaced by the larger

Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster The City of Doncaster is a metropolitan borough with city status in South Yorkshire, England. It is named after its principal settlement, Doncaster, and includes the surrounding suburbs of Doncaster as well as numerous towns and villages. The di ...

, which also took in the abolished

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

s of Adwick le Street, Bentley with Arksey,

Conisbrough Conisbrough () is a town within the City of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is roughly midway between Doncaster and Rotherham, and is built alongside the River Don, South Yorkshire, River Don at . It has a ward population (Conisbrou ...

Mexborough Mexborough is a town in the City of Doncaster, City of Doncaster District, South Yorkshire, England, between Manvers and Denaby Main, on the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don close to where it joins the River Dearne, and the A6023 road. It is co ...

, Tickhill, the

rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

s of

and Thorne, and (from Nottinghamshire) the parish of

Finningley Finningley is a village and civil parish in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. Historically in Nottinghamshire, it lies on the A614 road between Bawtry and Thorne, about 6 miles south-east of Doncaster. In the 2011 census, it h ...

and part of the parish of

Harworth Harworth is an area and former civil parish, now in the parish of Harworth Bircotes (with Bircotes) in the Bassetlaw district in Nottinghamshire, England, on the border with South Yorkshire. It is north of Worksop. The population of the civi ...

(the latter being added to the parish of

Bawtry Bawtry is a market town and civil parish in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It lies south-east of Doncaster, west of Gainsborough and north-west of Retford, on the border with Nottinghamshire and close to Lincolnshire. ...

). From 1974 until 1986 the council provided district-level services, with county-level services provided by South Yorkshire County Council. Following the abolition of the county council in 1986, Doncaster also took on county-level services, with some functions provided in joint arrangements with the other South Yorkshire boroughs. Since 2014 the council has been a constituent member of the

(called the Sheffield City Region until 2021), which has been led by the directly elected

Mayor of South Yorkshire The mayor of South Yorkshire is a combined authority Directly elected mayors in England and Wales, mayor, first 2018 Sheffield City Region mayoral election, elected in May 2018, who chairs the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority. The offi ...

since 2018. The borough was awarded city status in 2022, after which the council changed its named to City of Doncaster Council.

Governance

The council provides both district-level and county-level services. Some functions are provided through joint committees with the other South Yorkshire authorities. Much of the borough is covered by

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

es, which form a more local, additional tier of local government for their Parishioners.

Political control

The council has been under Reform UK control since 2025. Previously there was Labour majority control since 2010. Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:

Leadership

Prior to 2002, political leadership was provided by the

leader of the council Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

. Since 2002, political leadership has been provided instead by a directly elected

Mayor of Doncaster The Mayor of Doncaster is a directly elected mayor, first elected on 2 May 2002, taking on the executive function of City of Doncaster Council. The incumbent mayor is Ros Jones elected as a member of the Labour Party, who won the election he ...

. The council separately appoints a civic mayor each year, who is largely ceremonial. The leaders from 1994 to 2002 were: The directly elected mayors since 2002 have been:

Composition

Following the 2025 election, the composition of the council (excluding the elected mayor's seat) was: The next election is due on 3 May 2029.

Premises

The council is based at the Civic Office on Waterdale in Doncaster. It was purpose-built for the council and opened in January 2013. What was Coal House - geograph

From 1992 until 2013 the council was based at the Council House on College Road, formerly called Coal House, which had been built in 1966 as the headquarters of the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "ve ...

. The Council House was subsequently demolished.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 55

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s representing 21 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. From 1973 to 2014, the council was elected by thirds every year except the year in which county council elections took place in other parts of England. In 2015, the whole council was elected due to boundary changes to the wards and it was decided that the whole council would be elected every four years from 2017, so that the council elections would coincide with the election of the Mayor of Doncaster. Doncaster_wards

References

{{Authority control Local authorities in South Yorkshire Local authorities in England with elected mayor Local education authorities in England Billing authorities in England Metropolitan district councils of England Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster