Cheshire County Council

Cheshire County Council was the county council of Cheshire. Founded on 1 April 1889, it was officially dissolved on 31 March 2009, when it and its districts were superseded by two unitary authorities; Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East.[1]

Cheshire County Council
Coat of arms or logo
Logo
History
Founded1 April 1889 (1889-04-01)
Disbanded31 March 2009 (2009-03-31)
Succeeded byCheshire East Council
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Meeting place
County Hall, Castle Drive, Chester

At the time of its abolition in 2009, it had six districts: Chester, Congleton, Crewe and Nantwich, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Macclesfield, and Vale Royal.[2]

History

Cheshire County Council was created on 1 April 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, which established elected county councils across England and Wales to take over the local government functions previously performed by the Quarter Sessions. Certain large towns were made county boroughs, administering their own affairs independently from the county councils. When Cheshire County Council was established in 1889, three county boroughs were created in Cheshire: Birkenhead, Chester, and Stockport. The area of the county excluding these towns was known as the administrative county and was the area under the jurisdiction of Cheshire County Council.[3] Wallasey was later made a county borough in 1913, removing it from the administrative county.[4]

Under the Local Government Act 1972, Cheshire was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan county and had its boundaries revised, with an area in the north-east of the county (including Stockport) being transferred to Greater Manchester, the Wirral peninsula (including Birkenhead and Wallasey) being transferred to Merseyside and the eastern tip of the county at Upper Longdendale and Tintwistle being transferred to Derbyshire. In return, the county gained the area around Widnes and Warrington from Lancashire. County boroughs were abolished at the same time, and so the city of Chester came under the jurisdiction of the county council for the first time. The lower tier of local government was also reorganised, with the county's previous municipal boroughs, urban districts and rural districts being replaced by eight non-metropolitan districts. These changes all took effect on 1 April 1974.[5]

On 1 April 1998, two of the county's districts, Halton and Warrington, became unitary authorities, making them independent from Cheshire County Council.[6]

Cheshire County Council and its six remaining districts were abolished on 31 March 2009. From 1 April 2009 the area formed two unitary authorities, with Cheshire East covering the area of the former Congleton, Crewe and Nantwich and Macclesfield districts, and Cheshire West and Chester covering the area of the former Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston, and Vale Royal districts.[7]

Premises

From 1889 until 1957 the county council met at the Crewe Arms Hotel in Crewe as a location conveniently accessible by railway to most of the county. Work began on building a new County Hall on Castle Drive in Chester in 1938, but work on the building was paused due to the Second World War, and it was not formally opened until 1957.[8] After Cheshire County Council's abolition, County Hall was sold to the University of Chester.[9]

Political control

From 1889 until 1970, elections to the county council were generally held every three years. As part of the reforms under the Local Government Act 1972, those councillors still in post in 1972 on the old county council had their terms of office extended to 31 March 1974. The first election to the reconstituted county council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Elections were thereafter generally held every four years for the county council. The last election to Cheshire County Council was held in 2005. Voting for the new unitary authorities took place on 1 May 2008, which then acted as shadow authorities until formally taking over from the abolished county and district councils on 1 April 2009. Political control of Cheshire County Council from 1974 until its abolition in 2009 was held by the following parties:[10]

Party in controlYears
No overall control1974–1977
Conservative1977–1981
No overall control1981–2001
Conservative2001–2009

Leadership

The chairmen of the county council from 1889 until the 1974 reforms were:

  • 1889–1893: Duncan Graham.
  • 1893–1922: Col. Sir George Dixon, 1st Baronet, JP, DL.
  • 1922–1935: Sir William Hodgson, JP.
  • 1935–1940: Maj. Thomas Clayton Toler.
  • 1940–1944: Joseph Cooke.
  • 1944–1948: Maj. Hewitt Pearson Montague Beames, CBE.
  • 1948–1951: Sir Edward Otho Glover.
  • 1952–1967: Lt-Col. Sir John Wesley Emberton.
  • 1968–1974: Sir Herbert John Salisbury Dewes, CBE, JP, DL.

The leaders of the council from 1974 until 2009 were:[11]

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Bryan Harris[12] Conservative align=right|1 Apr 1974May 1979
Allan Richardson[13] Conservative align=right|May 1979May 1981
Basil Jeuda[14] Labour align=right|May 198128 Oct 1982
Allan Richardson[15][16] Conservative align=right|28 Oct 198227 Oct 1983
Ken Maynard[17] Conservative align=right|27 Oct 1983May 1984
Basil Jeuda[18] Labour align=right|May 1984May 1985
John Collinse[19][20] Labour align=right|May 198527 May 1993
Simon Cussons[21] Conservative align=right|1993May 1997
John Collins[22] Labour align=right|May 199731 Mar 1998
Derek Bateman[23] Labour align=right|1 Apr 19982001
Paul Findlow Conservative200131 Mar 2009

Council elections
  • 1973 Cheshire County Council election
  • 1977 Cheshire County Council election
  • 1981 Cheshire County Council election
  • 1985 Cheshire County Council election
  • 1989 Cheshire County Council election
  • 1993 Cheshire County Council election
  • 1997 Cheshire County Council election
  • 2001 Cheshire County Council election
  • 2005 Cheshire County Council election

By-election results
Blacon ED By-Election 19 September 1996
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour 1,326 87.9
Conservative 182 12.1
Majority 1,144 75.8
Turnout 1,508
Labour hold Swing
Broxton By-Election 18 September 1997
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats 1,266 53.3 +21.3
Conservative 1,110 46.7 -0.6
Majority 156 6.6
Turnout 2,376 26.4
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing
Congleton and Buglawton By-Election 18 March 1999
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats 880 41.5 +17.1
Labour 821 38.7 +1.6
Conservative 419 19.8 -2.7
Majority 59 2.8
Turnout 2,120 21.8
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Bucklow By-Election 29 July 1999
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative 1,326 83.8 +22.0
Independent 137 8.7 +8.7
Liberal Democrats 120 7.6 -14.3
Majority 1,189 75.1
Turnout 1,583 20.0
Conservative hold Swing
Doddington By-Election 1 May 2003
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative 2,137 67.9
Labour 1,012 32.1
Majority 1,125 35.8
Turnout 3,149 31.0
Conservative hold Swing
Crewe South By-Election 1 April 2004
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats David Cannon 1,393 43.3 +15.1
Labour 1,082 33.7 -22.1
BNP 385 12.0 +12.0
Conservative 355 11.0 +0.0
Majority 311 9.6
Turnout 3,215 29.0
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Gowy By-Election 27 September 2007
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Eleanor Johnson 1,863 50.4 +2.1
Liberal Democrats Andrew Garman 1,419 38.4 +5.7
Labour Mark Green 307 8.3 -10.8
UKIP John Moore 107 2.9 +2.9
Majority 444 12.0
Turnout 3,696 32.8
Conservative hold Swing
Abbey By-Election 1 May 2008
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Herbert Manley 2,213 63.2 +16.6
Liberal Democrats Arthur Wood 857 24.5 -1.9
Labour Mark Green 432 12.3 -9.1
Majority 1,356 38.7
Turnout 3,502 35.5
Conservative hold Swing

References
  1. "Cheshire County Council". Cheshire Archives. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  2. "Cheshire County Council". What do they know. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  3. "Local Government Act 1888", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1888 c. 41, retrieved 4 September 2022
  4. "Wallasey Urban District / Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  5. "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 4 September 2022
  6. "The Cheshire (Boroughs of Halton and Warrington) (Structural Change) Order 1996", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1996/1863, retrieved 4 September 2022
  7. "The Cheshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2008/634, retrieved 4 September 2022
  8. "County Council Archives". National Archives. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  9. "University opens former County Hall to public". University of Chester. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  10. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  11. "Council minutes". Warrington Borough Council. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  12. "Push-button vote call". Liverpool Echo. 2 May 1973. p. 7. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  13. "Committees elected". Cheshire Observer. Chester. 25 May 1979. p. 43. Retrieved 8 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Labour faces battle over pledge on cuts". Liverpool Echo. 14 May 1981. p. 9. Retrieved 8 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Liberal move robs Labour of leadership". Liverpool Echo. 29 October 1982. p. 5. Retrieved 8 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Controversial Ken will be county's new leader". Crewe Chronicle. 27 October 1983. p. 7. Retrieved 4 September 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Ken's back on top". Liverpool Echo. 28 October 1983. p. 19. Retrieved 8 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "Lab-Lib pact on a joint budget". Chester Observer. Chester. 25 May 1984. p. 37. Retrieved 4 September 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. "Landslide Labour majorities". Cheshire Observer. Chester. 10 May 1985. p. 10. Retrieved 8 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. Body, Cynthia (2 June 1993). "County in a swing to the right". Winsford Chronicle. p. 11. Retrieved 8 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. "Jobs lost in budget cutbacks". Winsford Chronicle. 26 February 1997. p. 17. Retrieved 8 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. "Councillors summoned to County Hall for last time". Chester Chronicle. 3 April 1998. p. 6. Retrieved 4 September 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. Glendon, Eddie (27 March 1998). "Workers are told not to worry, at least for the time being
    Redundancy precautions"    . Chester Chronicle. p. 7. Retrieved 8 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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