Wokingham Borough Council

Wokingham Borough Council
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 1974
Leadership
Beth Rowland,
Liberal Democrats
since 18 May 2023
Stephen Conway,
Liberal Democrats
since 18 May 2023
Susan Parsonage
since March 2019
Structure
Seats54 councillors
Wokingham Borough Council composition
Political groups
Liberal Democrats (26)
Conservative (22)
Labour (5)
Independent (1)
Length of term
Third of council elected three years out of four
Elections
Plurality-at-large
Last election
4 May 2023
Next election
2024
Meeting place
Civic Offices, Shute End, Wokingham, RG401BN
Website
www.wokingham.gov.uk
Results map of the 2022 election

Wokingham Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England. It is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council.

History

The town of Wokingham was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1885. The municipal borough was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, merging with the surrounding Wokingham Rural District to become a new non-metropolitan district called Wokingham.

Until 1998 Wokingham was a lower-tier district council, with Berkshire County Council providing county-level services to the area. The county council was abolished in 1998 and Wokingham became a unitary authority, taking over the county council's functions in the area. The council was awarded borough status in 2007, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.

Political control

Since 2022 the council has been under no overall control, being run by a Liberal Democrat-led coalition with Labour and the independent councillors.

The first elections to Wokingham District Council were held in 1973, initially acting as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows:

Non-metropolitan district

Party in control Years
No overall control 1974–1976
Conservative 1976–1995
No overall control 1995–1996
Liberal Democrats 1996–1997
Conservative 1997–1998

Unitary authority

Party in control Years
Conservative 1998–2000
No overall control 2000–2002
Conservative 2002–2022
No overall control 2022–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Wokingham, and is usually held by a different councillor each year. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1995 have been:

Councillor Party From To
Simon Etheridge Conservative 1995 1996
Alan Spratling Liberal Democrats 1996 1997
Simon Etheridge Conservative 1997 1999
Perry Lewis Conservative 1999 2000
Alan Spratling Liberal Democrats 2000 2002
Frank Browne Conservative 2002 4 May 2008
David Lee Conservative 22 May 2008 12 Jun 2014
Keith Baker Conservative 12 Jun 2014 18 May 2017
Charlotte Haitham-Taylor Conservative 18 May 2017 22 Nov 2018
Julian McGhee-Sumner Conservative 14 Dec 2018 5 May 2019
John Halsall Conservative 22 May 2019 19 May 2022
Clive Jones Liberal Democrats 19 May 2022 18 May 2023
Stephen Conway Liberal Democrats 18 May 2023

Composition

Following the 2023 election, the council composition is:

Party Councillors
Liberal Democrats 26
Conservative Party 22
Labour 5
Independent 1
Total 54

The next election is due in 2024.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2004, the council has comprised 54 councillors elected from 25 wards. Each ward elects one, two or three councillors. Elections are held in three out of every four years, with one third of the seats being elected each time for a four-year term of office.

Premises

The council's main offices are the Civic Offices at Shute End in Wokingham. The building began as a house, built c. 1870 as the rectory for nearby St Paul's Church. It was purchased by Wokingham Rural District Council in 1939 and converted to become their offices. The building passed to the new Wokingham District Council when local government was reorganised in 1974. A large extension was added to the west of the original house in 1988.


This page was last updated at 2023-11-30 02:05 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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