Wirral Council

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, or simply Wirral Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in Merseyside and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of local government services in Wirral. It is a constituent council of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.[1]

Wirral Council
Type
Type	Metropolitan district
Leadership
Civic Mayor of Wirral	Cllr Tony Smith, Labour since 13 May 2019
Leader of the Council	Cllr Pat Hackett, Labour since 14 May 2019
Chief executive	Eric Robinson since 6 February 2015
Structure
Seats	66 councillors
Political groups	Administration      Labour (32) Other parties      Conservative (21)      Liberal Democrat (6)      Green (3)      Independent (3)      Vacant (1)
Joint committees	Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
First election	10 May 1973
Last election	2 May 2019
Next election	7 May 2020
Meeting place
Wallasey Town Hall, Wallasey
Website
www.wirral.gov.uk

History

The current local authority was first elected in 1973, a year before formally coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral on 1 April 1974. The council gained borough status, entitling it to be known as Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.

Timeline

• 1973 First election.
• 1974 Metropolitan borough of Wirral established.
• 1975 Conservatives take control of council.
• 1986 Council falls under No Overall Control.
• 1991 Labour take control of the council for the first time.
• 1992 Council falls under No Overall Control.
• 1995 Labour take control of the council.
• 2002 Council falls under No Overall Control.
• 2005/06 Cllr Hilary Jones (Hoylake and Meols) becomes UKIP's first (and last) representation on the council. Elected as a Conservative (later resigning the whip in 2004).
• 2008 Last Liberal Democrat gain until 2019.
• 2011 Liberal Democrat leader, and then Deputy Leader of the council, Simon Holbrook loses his Prenton seat to Labour's Paul Doughty after 12 years as a councillor.
• 2012 Labour take control of the council.
• 2013 Last Conservative Gain in Leasowe and Moreton East by-election (lost in the following years election).
• 2014 Greens make first gain in Wirral with Pat Cleary ousting Labour's, then cabinet member for the environment, Brian Kenny in their traditionally safe seat of Birkenhead and Tranmere.
• 2015 Last Labour gain.
• 2019 Council falls under No Overall Control, first net gain for the Liberal Democrats since 2008.

Council leadership

Leader of the Council and Cabinet

Office(s)		Party	Councillor	Current Portfolio	Entered cabinet	Ward	Ref
	Leader of the Council; Overall strategic direction of Council	Labour	Pat Hackett	14 May 2019	14 May 2019	New Brighton	[2]
	Deputy Leader of the Council; The Local Plan	Labour	Anita Leech	14 May 2019	15 August 2018	Leasowe and Moreton East	[3]
	Adult care, health and wellbeing	Labour	Chris Jones	14 May 2019	?	Seacombe	[4]
	Children, families and education	Labour	Tom Usher	14 May 2019	14 May 2019	Liscard	[5]
	Community Services	Labour	Julie McManus	14 May 2019	14 May 2019	Bidston and St James	[6]
	Environment and climate change	Labour	Elizabeth Grey	14 May 2019	14 May 2019	Bidston and St James	[7]
	Finance and Resources	Labour	Janette Williamson	15 May 2018	?	Liscard	[8]
	Housing and Planning	Labour	Stuart Whittingham	14 May 2019	?	Upton	[9]
	Regeneration and Growth	Labour	Tony Jones	14 May 2019	14 May 2019	New Brighton	[10]
	Culture and Tourism	Labour	Christine Spriggs	14 May 2019	14 May 2019	New Brighton	[11]
Source: Wirral Council[12]

Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Cabinet

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Role(s)		Party	Councillor	Term start	Ward	Ref
	Leader of the Opposition, Leader of Conservative Group	Conservative	Ian Lewis	8 May 2017	Wallasey	[13]
	Deputy Leader of Conservative Group	Conservative	Lesley Rennie	?	Wallasey	[14]
	Environment	Conservative	Adam Sykes	?	Clatterbridge	[15]

Mayor of Wirral

Main article: Mayor of Wirral

The Mayor of Wirral (or Civic Mayor of Wirral) is a ceremonial post elected annually, along with a deputy, by Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.[16] The role of the mayor includes chairing council meetings, representing the Borough at civic functions, supporting local charities and conferring Honorary Freemen and Aldermen.

The incumbent mayor and deputy mayor are Tony Smith and George Davies.[17]

Wards and councillors

Each ward is represented by three councillors.[18]

Parliamentary constituency	Ward	Councillor		Party	Term of office
Birkenhead	Bidston and St James		Liz Grey	Labour	2018–22
			Brian Kenny	Labour	2019–23
			Julie McManus	Labour	2016–20
	Birkenhead and Tranmere		Pat Cleary	Green	2018–22
			Steve Hayes	Independent [n 1]	2019–23
			Jean Stapleton	Labour	2016–20
	Claughton		Gillian Wood	Labour	2018–22
			Steve Foulkes	Labour	2019–23
			George Davies	Labour	2016–20
	Oxton		Allan Brame	Liberal Democrats	2018–22
			Andy Corkhill	Liberal Democrats	2019–23
			Stuart Kelly	Liberal Democrats	2016–20
	Prenton		Samantha Frost	Labour	2018–22
			Chris Cooke	Green	2019–23
			Tony Norbury	Labour	2016–20
	Rock Ferry		Moira McLaughlin	Independent [n 2]	2018–22
			Yvonne Nolan	Labour	2019–23
			Bill Davies	Independent [n 3]	2016–20
Wallasey	Leasowe and Moreton East		Sharon Jones	Labour	2018–22
			Karl Greaney	Labour	2019–23
			Anita Leech	Labour	2016–20
	Liscard		Janette Williamson	Labour	2018–22
			Sarah Spoor	Labour	2019–23
			Thomas Usher	Labour	2016–20
	Moreton West and Saughall Massie		Bruce Berry	Conservative	2018–22
			Steve Williams	Conservative	2019–23
			Vacant	– [n 4]	–
	New Brighton		Christine Spriggs	Labour	2018–22
			Pat Hackett	Labour	2019–23
			Tony Jones	Labour	2016–20
	Seacombe		Adrian Jones	Labour	2018–22
			Chris Jones	Labour	2019–23
			Paul Stuart	Labour	2016–20
	Wallasey		Lesley Rennie	Conservative	2018–22
			Paul Hayes	Conservative	2019–23
			Ian Lewis	Conservative	2016–20
Wirral South	Bebington		Tony Cottier	Labour	2018–22
			Jerry Williams	Labour	2019–23
			Christina Muspratt	Labour	2016–20
	Bromborough		Irene Williams	Labour	2018–22
			Joe Walsh	Labour	2019–23
			Jo Bird	Labour Co-op	2018–20
	Clatterbridge		Mary Jordon	Conservative	2018–22
			Helen Cameron	Conservative	2019–23
			Cherry Povall JP	Conservative	2016–20
	Eastham		Chris Carubia	Liberal Democrats	2018–22
			Dave Mitchell	Liberal Democrats	2019–23
			Phil Gilchrist	Liberal Democrats	2016–20
	Heswall		Les Rowlands	Conservative	2018–22
			Andrew Hodson	Conservative	2019–23
			Kathy Hodson	Conservative	2016–20
Wirral West	Greasby, Frankby and Irby		Wendy Clements	Conservative	2018–22
			David Burgess-Joyce	Conservative	2019–23
			Tom Anderson	Conservative	2016–20
	Hoylake and Meols		Tony Cox	Conservative	2018–22
			Alison Wright	Conservative	2019–23
			Andrew Gardner	Conservative	2018–20
	Pensby and Thingwall		Kate Cannon	Labour	2018–22
			Mike Collins	Conservative	2019–23
			Michael Sullivan	Independent [n 5]	2016–20
	Upton		Stuart Whittingham	Labour	2018–22
			Tony Smith	Labour	2019–23
			Jean Robinson	Labour	2018–20
	West Kirby and Thurstaston		Jeff Green	Conservative	2018–22
			Jenny Johnson	Conservative	2019–23
			Geoffrey Watt	Conservative	2016–20

Political makeup

Only four parties have won seats to Council: Conservative, Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat (and its predecessors). All other political representation has come via changes in affiliation.

Year	Con	Green	Lab	Lib Dem	Other	Ref
1973	29	0	24	13	0	[23]
1974	29	0	24	13	0
1975	36	0	21	9	0
	37	0	21	8	0
1976	42	0	18	6	0
1977	42	0	18	6	0
1978	45	0	16	5	0
1979	40	0	20	6	0
1980	37	0	23	6	0
1981	37	0	23	6	0
1982	35	0	25	6	0
1983	34	0	24	8	0
1984	34	0	24	8	0
1985	34	0	24	8	0
1986	30	0	26	10	0
1987	29	0	27	10	0
1988	24	0	32	10	0
	24	0	29	10	3
1989	24	0	29	10	3
1990	23	0	33	7	3
	23	0	33	8	2
1991	24	0	34	7	1
1992	29	0	31	6	0
1993	29	0	31	6	0
1994	30	0	30	6	0
	28	0	30	8	0
1995	22	0	36	8	0
1996	16	0	41	9	0
1997	16	0	41	9	0
1998	16	0	41	8	1
	16	0	42	8	0	[24]
1999	17	0	39	10	0	[23]
2000	20	0	34	12	0
2001	20	0	34	12	0
	20	0	33	12	1	[25]
2002	20	0	32	12	2
	20	0	31	14	1	[26]
2003	23	0	26	16	1	[27]
2004	21	0	26	19	0	[28]
	20	0	26	19	1	[29]
2005	21	0	26	18	1	[30]
2006	21	0	26	19	0	[31]
2007	21	0	25	20	0	[32]
	21	0	25	19	1	[33]
	20	0	25	19	2	[34]
2008	24	0	21	20	1	[35]
2009	25	0	20	20	1	[36]
2010	27	0	24	15	0	[37]
2011	27	0	29	10	0	[38]
	27	0	30	9	0	[39]
2012	22	0	37	7	0	[40]
2013	23	0	36	7	0	[41]
	22	0	37	7	0	[42]
	22	0	37	6	1	[43]
2014	21	1	38	6	0	[44]
2015	21	1	39	5	0	[45]
2016	21	1	38	5	1	[46]
	21	1	39	5	0	[47]
2017	21	1	39	5	0
2018	21	1	39	5	0	[48]
	21	1	38	5	1	[22]
	21	1	37	5	2	[49]
2019	21	1	36	5	3	[50]
	21	1	35	5	4	[20]
	21	1	34	5	5	[51]
	22	3	32	6	3	[52]
2020	22	2	32	6	4	[53]

Leaders

Further information: Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council elections

Leaders and control

Since the first election to the council in 1973 political control of the council has been held by the following parties:[54]

Portrait		Name	Years	Control
		Bill Whitehurst	1973–1974		No Overall Control
		Malcolm Thornton	1974–1975
			1975–1977		Conservative
		Harry Deverill	1977–1980
		David Fletcher	1980–1985
		John Hale	1985–1986
			1986 (May – Oct)		No Overall Control
		Hung	1986–1990
		Yvonne Nolan	1990–1991
		George Clark	1991–1992		Labour
		Hung	1992–1995		No Overall Control
		Dave Jackson	1995–2000		Labour
		Steve Foulkes	2000–2002
			2002–2010		No Overall Control
		Jeff Green	2010–2011
		Steve Foulkes	2011–2012
		Jeff Green	2012 (Feb – May)
		Phil Davies	2012–2019		Labour
		Pat Hackett	2019–present		No Overall Control

Party leaders

By size of group, current Party leaders Williamson, Lewis, Gilchrist and Cleary

Year	Con		Green		Lab		Lib Dem
1973	Bill Whitehurst		Not Represented		Bill Wells		Gruff Evans
1974
	Malcolm Thornton
1977
	Harry Deverill						Gordon Lindsay
1978
					Richard Kimberley
1979
							Roy Perkins
1980
	David Fletcher				Andrew Smith
1983
					George Clark
1985
	John Hale
1986
					Peter Corcoran
1988
							Ed Cunniffe
1990
							Gordon Lindsay
					Yvonne Nolan
1991
					George Clark
1992
					Dave Jackson
1993
							Phil Gilchrist
2000
					Steve Foulkes
2001
							Stuart Kelly
2002
	Jeff Green
2007
							Simon Holbrook
2011
							Tom Harney
2012
					Phil Davies
2013
							Phil Gilchrist
2014
			Pat Cleary
2017
	Ian Lewis
2019
					Pat Hackett
2020
					Janette Williamson

Notes

1. Resigned from the Green Party in August 2020.
2. Resigned the Labour whip in October 2018.[19]
3. Resigned the Labour whip in March 2019.[20]
4. Conservative councillor Chris Blakeley died on 15 January 2020.[21] His seat will be filled at the next local election.
5. Resigned the Labour whip in August 2018.[22]

References

1. "Proposal to establish a combined authority for Greater Merseyside" (PDF). Department for Communities and Local Government. November 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
2. "Councillor Pat Hackett". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
3. "Councillor Anita Leech". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
4. "Councillor Chris Jones". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
5. "Councillor Thomas Usher". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
6. "Councillor Julie McManus". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
7. "Councillor Liz Grey". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
8. "Councillor Janette Williamson". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
9. "Councillor Stuart Whittingham". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
10. "Councillor Tony Jones". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
11. "Councillor Christine Spriggs". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
12. "Cabinet members 2019-20". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
13. "Councillor Ian Lewis". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
14. "Councillor Lesley Rennie". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
15. "Councillor Adam Sykes". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
16. "Mayor of Wirral". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
17. Brace, John. "Cllr Geoffrey Watt elected Mayor of Wirral for 2018-19". Retrieved 26 September 2018.
18. "Your Councillors by Ward". www.wirral.gov.uk. Wirral Council. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
19. "Senior Labour politician quits party after 40 years citing 'absolute aggression' from a 'hard-left clique'". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
20. Houghton, Tom (18 March 2019). "Labour Councillor of more than 30 years latest to quit party and slam 'hard-left' takeover". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
21. Morgan, George (16 January 2020). "Heartfelt tributes follow the death of Wirral councillor Chris Blakeley". Wirral Globe. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
22. "Wirral councillor quits party blaming hard left 'parasites'". Labour Uncut. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
23. "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
24. "Lib Dem councillor switches sides". Wirral Globe. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
25. "Second councillor quits". Wirral Globe. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
26. "Local Election - 02 May 2002". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
27. "Local Election - 01 May 2003". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
28. "Local Election - 10 June 2004". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
29. "'No respect for mayor'". Wirral Globe.
30. "Why I jumped ship to join the Tories". Wirral Globe.
31. "Local Election - 4 May 2006". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
32. "Local Election - 03 May 2007". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
33. "Councillors also have a 'third duty'".
34. "Another one bites the dust". Wirral Globe.
35. "Election Result for 1 May 2008 2002". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
36. "BREAKING NEWS: Labour councillor Denis Knowles quits and joins Tories at Wallasey Town Hall". Wirral Globe.
37. "Election Result for 6 May 2010". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
38. "Election Result for 5 May 2011". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
39. "Wirral Lib Dem Steve Niblock defects to Labour Party". BBC News.
40. "Election Result for 3 May 2012". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
41. "Conservative victory in Wirral by-elections". Wirral Globe.
42. "UPDATED: Labour victory in Wirral Council by-election". Wirral Globe.
43. "Wirral councillor Mark Johnson quits Liberal Democrat Party". Liverpool Echo.
44. "Election Result for 22 May 2014". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
45. "Election Result for 7 May 2015". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
46. "Seven things to talk about after the Wirral local elections". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
47. "Election results by party, Local election - Thursday, 5th May 2016". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.
48. "Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council Election 2018 Results". BBC News.
49. "Senior Labour politician quits party after 40 years citing 'absolute aggression' of 'hard-left clique'". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
50. Houghton, Tom (12 February 2019). "Yet ANOTHER top Labour politician quits party - blaming 'hard-left' takeover". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
51. Houghton, Tom (10 April 2019). "Wirral politician booted out of Labour after campaigning for rival party". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
52. "Composition of Wirral Council following the local elections on Thursday 2 May 2019". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. 3 May 2019. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
53. "Councillors". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
54. "Wirral". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2009.

External links

• Wirral Council
• Wirral Conservatives
• Wirral Green Party
• Wirral Labour
• Wirral Lib Dems