Hastings Borough Council is the

local authority 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 a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

for

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

, England. Hastings has had a council since medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974, Hastings has been a

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''s ...

with

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, si ...

. The council has been under

no overall control In the context of local authorities in the United Kingdom no overall control (NOC; ) is a situation in which no single political group achieves a majority of seats, comparable to a hung parliament. Of the 248 councils who had members up for elec ...

since 2022. Following the 2024 election a

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

minority administration formed to run the council. The council is based at Muriel Matters House on the seafront. Hastings UK locator map

History

Hastings 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 ...

. It was given the right to appoint a mayor in 1589. It was reformed 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 ...

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 ...

, governed by a body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Hastings", generally known as the corporation or town council. When elected county councils were established in 1889 under the

Local Government Act 1888 The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect ...

it was decided that Hastings was sufficiently large for its existing council to provide county-level services and so Hastings was made a county borough, independent from

East Sussex County Council East Sussex County Council is the upper tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the latter additionally includes Brighton and Hove. East ...

. 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 borough became a

within the

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 East Sussex, giving East Sussex County Council jurisdiction over the town as a higher-tier authority for the first time. Hastings kept its borough status, allowing the council to take the name Hastings Borough Council and letting the chair of the council take the title of mayor, continuing Hastings' series of mayors dating back to 1589.

Governance

Hastings Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by

. There are no

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, which is an

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparis ...

Political control

The council has been under

since the 2022 election. A Labour and

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 com ...

coalition formed after that election, but separated five months later in October 2022, after which Labour ran the council as a minority administration. In December 2023, six Labour councillors — including the Leader and Deputy Leader — resigned the party in protest at

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

's leadership and formed a new group, the Hastings Independents. Over the following week, they were joined by two more Labour councillors. The group has criticised the national party's 'micromanaging' of local elections, and its position on the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

. In January 2024 a new administration comprising the Greens and the former Labour councillors took over the council, led by Green councillor Julia Hilton. Following the 2024 election a Green Party minority administration was formed. Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows: (Put "Hastings" in search box to see specific results.)

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Hastings. Political leadership is instead 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 ...

. The leaders since 2001 have been:

Composition

Following the 2024 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was: The six independent councillors (all of whom were originally elected as Labour before leaving the party) sit together as the "Hastings Independent Group". The next election is due in 2026.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2018 the council has comprised 32

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 16 wards, with each ward electing two councillors. Elections are held in alternate years, with half the council (one councillor for each ward) being elected each time for a four-year term of office.

Premises

The council is based at a modern office building called Muriel Matters House on Breeds Place, overlooking the seafront. The council was previously based 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 ...

on Queens Road, which had been built in 1881. The council met and had its offices at Town Hall until 2012. Most of the council's offices then moved to Aquila House on Breeds Place, which the council initially rented. In 2016 the council purchased Aquila House, renamed it Muriel Matters House after Muriel Matters (1877–1969) who had lived in the town, and created a new council chamber in the building.

References

External links

Hastings Borough Council official website
{{Local authorities in East Sussex Non-metropolitan district councils of England Local authorities in East Sussex

Borough Council A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...