West Berkshire Council

West Berkshire Council is the local authority of West Berkshire in Berkshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. West Berkshire is divided into 30 wards, electing 52 councillors.[2] The council was created by the Local Government Act 1972 as the Newbury District Council and replaced five local authorities: Bradfield Rural District Council, Hungerford Rural District Council, Newbury Borough Council, Newbury Rural District Council and Wantage Rural District Council. On 1 April 1998 it was renamed West Berkshire Council and since then has been a unitary authority, assuming the powers and functions of Berkshire County Council within the district. In the 2015 election the Conservatives won 48 out of 52 seats. In 2019, they won 24 seats losing half of their councillors.

West Berkshire Council
Council logo
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 1974
Leadership
Chair of the Council
Cllr Graham Pask, Conservative
since 24 May 2019
Leader of the Council
Cllr Lynne Doherty, Conservative
since 24 May 2019
Chief executive
Nick Carter
since 2005
Structure
Seats43 councillors
Political groups
Administration (24)
Other parties (19)
Committees
Length of term
4 years
Elections
Plurality-at-large
Last election
7 May 2015
Next election
2 May 2019
Meeting place
Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury
Website
West Berkshire Council

History

The council was formed by the Local Government Act 1972 as the Newbury District Council. It replaced Bradfield Rural District Council, Hungerford Rural District Council, Newbury Borough Council, Newbury Rural District Council and Wantage Rural District Council. The current local authority was first elected in 1973, a year before formally coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the District of Newbury on 1 April 1974.

It was envisaged through the Local Government Act 1972 that Newbury as a non-metropolitan district council would share power with the Berkshire County Council. This arrangement lasted until 1998 when Berkshire County Council was abolished and the renamed Newbury District Council, now West Berkshire Council, gained responsibility for services that had been provided by the county council.

Politics
See also: West Berkshire Council elections

West Berkshire Council is elected every four years, with currently 52 councillors being elected at each election. From the first election to the unitary authority in 1997 to the 2003 election the Liberal Democrats had a majority and they then kept control with the chairman's casting vote until 2005.

In 2005 the Conservative party gained a majority, which they have held since.

In the 2019 United Kingdom local elections the Conservatives lost councillors, though retaining their majority, whilst the Liberal Democrats made significant gains and the Green Party also made gains.

The council composition is:

Political group Councillors
2015 2019 Current
Conservative 48 24 24
Liberal Democrat 4 16 16
Green Party 0 3 3
Total 52 43 43
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References
  1. West Berkshire Council - Your Councillors. Westberks.gov.uk. Retrieved on 2013-07-17.
  2. http://www.westberks.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2130
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