Middlesbrough Council, formerly Middlesbrough Borough Council, is the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

covering the

Borough of Middlesbrough The Borough of Middlesbrough is a district in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Tees Valley region, along with the boroughs of Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool and Darlington. The district ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England. Following the 2023 local elections, Labour has held majority control of the council, which meets at the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

. It is led by the directly-elected

Mayor of Middlesbrough The Mayor of Middlesbrough is the executive mayor of the borough of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. The incumbent since 2023 is Chris Cooke. Referendums 2001 2013 Election results 2002 2007 2011 2015 ...

( Chris Cooke since 2023). The council is a member of the

Tees Valley Combined Authority The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) is the Combined authorities and combined county authorities, combined authority for the Tees Valley urban area in North East England consisting of the following five Unitary authority, unitary authoriti ...

History

The town of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

had been incorporated as 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 1853. When elected county councils were established in 1889 it was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services, and so it was made a county borough, independent from the new North Riding County Council, whilst remaining part of the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at . From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area, having b ...

for ceremonial purposes. The original borough of Middlesbrough was abolished in 1968, merging with several neighbouring authorities to become the

County Borough of Teesside The County Borough of Teesside was a county borough in the north-east of England, which existed for just six years. It was created in 1968 to cover the Teesside conurbation which had grown up around the various port and industrial towns near t ...

. That proved to be a short-lived local authority, being abolished just six years later when a new borough of Middlesbrough was created on 1 April 1974 under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

. The new borough covered the wards from Teesside which generally corresponded to both the pre-1968 borough and the former parishes of Hemlington, Marton and Stainton (which had all been abolished and absorbed into Teesside in 1968), plus the parish of

Nunthorpe Nunthorpe is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Yorkshire, North Riding. It is near to the villa ...

from the Stokesley Rural District. The re-created borough was a lower-tier district, being one of four districts within the new county of

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. The county council provided county-level functions. Cleveland County Council was abolished in 1996 following the Banham Review and the borough council took over county-level functions, in effect restoring Middlesbrough to the powers it had held prior to 1968 when it had been a county borough. The way the 1996 change was implemented was to create a new

non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a subdivision of England used for local government. The non-metropolitan counties were originally created in 1974 as part of a reform of local government in England and Wales, and ...

of Middlesbrough covering the same area as the existing borough, but with no separate county council; instead the existing borough council took on county functions, making it a unitary authority. At the same time the borough was transferred for ceremonial purposes to

, but as a unitary authority it has always been independent from

North Yorkshire Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county coun ...

Governance

Middlesbrough Council provides both county-level and district-level services. There are two

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 in the borough at

and Stainton and Thornton which form a second tier of local government for their areas; while the rest of the borough is unparished. Since 2016, the council has been a member of the

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since the 2023 election. Political control of the council since it was re-established in 1974 has been as follows: Non-metropolitan district Unitary authority

Leadership

Since 2002, political leadership on the council has been provided by the directly elected

. Prior to 2002 the council was led by a

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 ...

, and the mayor had a more ceremonial role. The leaders from 1981 to 2002 were: The directly elected mayors since 2002 have been:

Composition

Following the 2023 election and subsequent by-elections in 2023 and 2024, Labour have 24 councillors (excluding the mayor), the

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

have 4 councillors, and the Liberal Democrats have 2 councillors. Of the 16

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

councillors, twelve sit together as the "Middlesbrough Independent Councillors Association" and two form the "Marton East Independents"; the other two do not belong to a group. The next all-out election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last full review of boundaries in 2015 the council has comprised 43

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 20 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

The Executive

Middlesbrough Council's senior decision making body is a committee known as the Executive. Similar to a cabinet, the Executive consists of the Mayor and up to nine councillors appointed by the Mayor, as of November 2024 they are as follows: * Mayor Chris Cooke * Cllr Philippa Storey, Deputy Mayor and Executive Member for Education and Culture * Cllr Jan Ryles, Executive Member for Public Health * Cllr Peter Gavigan, Executive Member for Environment and Sustainability * Cllr Theo Furness, Executive Member for Development * Cllr Ian Blades, Executive Member for Neighbourhoods * Cllr Nicky Walker, Executive Member for Finance * Cllr Julia Rostron, Executive Member for Adult Social Care * Cllr Luke Henman, Executive Member for Children's Services

Premises

The council is based at Middlesbrough Town Hall on Albert Road in the centre of Middlesbrough. The building is in two parts, being the main hall on the corner of Corporation Road (primarily an entertainment venue) and the Municipal Buildings to the south of the hall, facing Centre Square, which were built together between 1883 and 1889. The council has additional offices in modern buildings near the Town Hall, notably at Middlesbrough House at 50 Corporation Road, which includes the customer centre, and at Fountain Court at 119 Grange Road. The council's main offices were previously at the Civic Centre on Centre Square, immediately east of the Municipal Buildings and linked to them by a first floor bridge. The Civic Centre was completed in 1973. The council vacated the Civic Centre in 2022 after purchasing nearby Fountain Court and relocating staff there.

Coat of arms

Flag flown above Middlesbrough town hall

The motto ("We shall be" in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

) was adopted, it reflects ("We have been") of the Bruce clan which were

's mediaeval lords. The original arms was granted to the Middlesbrough Rural District in 1911 by William Hylton Dyer Longstaffe. The town's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

were three ships representing shipbuilding and maritime trade and an azure (blue) lion, the latter also from the Bruce clan. It was regranted in 1996 with slight modifications after the dissolution of Cleveland county: a star replaced the middle ship, this is from

Captain James Cook Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...

's coat of arms.

References

External links

Middlesbrough Council Website
{{coord, 54.5755, -1.234, display=title, region:GB_scale:100000 Politics of Middlesbrough Unitary authority councils of England Local authorities in England with elected mayor Local education authorities in England Billing authorities in England Leader and cabinet executives Local authorities in North Yorkshire