Leicester City Council

Leicester City Council is a unitary authority responsible for local government in the city of Leicester, England. It consists of 54 councillors, representing 22 wards in the city, overseen by a directly elected mayor. It is currently controlled by the Labour Party and has been led by Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby since his election on 6 May 2011. The main council offices are at City Hall on Charles Street, but council meetings are held in the 19th-century Town Hall.[2]

Leicester City Council
Coat of arms
Council logo
Type
Type
Leadership
George Cole
since 19 May 2022
Peter Soulsby,
Labour
since 9 May 2011
Chief operating officer
Alison Greenhill
Structure
Seats1 executive mayor
54 councillors[1]
Leicester City Council composition
Council political groups
Administration (30)
  Labour (30)
Opposition (24)
  Conservative (17)
  Liberal Democrat (3)
  Green Party (3)
  Independent (1)
Length of term
Executive mayor elected every four years
Whole council elected every four years
Elections
Plurality-at-large
First-past-the-post voting
Last Council election
4 May 2023
Next Council election
May 2027
Meeting place
Leicester Town Hall
Website
www.leicester.gov.uk
New Walk Centre, former council offices that were demolished in 2015
City Hall in Charles Street

As a unitary authority, the council is responsible for running nearly all local services in Leicester with the exception of the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service and Leicestershire Constabulary which are run by joint boards with Leicestershire County Council and Rutland County Council.

History

The Council traces its roots to the Corporation of Leicester, and before then to the Merchant Gild and the Portmanmoot. The Portmanmoot consisted of 24 Jurats, elected from the burgesses (members of the Gild Merchant, or freemen), along with two bailiffs, and a clerk. It appears to have existed before the Norman Conquest in 1066. In 1209, the lead member of the Portmanmoot, the Alderman, became known as a mayor. The Gild Merchant and the Moot overlapped in membership and had probably become effectively merged in the 14th century. Membership of the Twenty-Four appears to have been by co-option, chosen by themselves.

Traditionally, the general populace attended some meetings of the Moot and Guild, but this was restricted to burgesses in 1467. Later, in 1489, this changed to a system where the Mayor and the Twenty-Four chose Forty-Eight burgesses to represent the others, and the Twenty-Four and the Forty-Eight would govern jointly.

After doubts as to the ability of the Moot and Gild to hold property arose in the 16th century, the Corporation was formed, replacing the Gild and Portmanmoot, in 1589. A second charter was granted in 1599, reconfirming this, to The Mayor, Bailiffs and Burgesses of the Borough of Leicester. The 24 Jurats became known as the Aldermen of the Corporation, and the 48 other Burgesses as the Common Council. The members of the Corporation chose the burgesses to send to the House of Commons.

The Corporation, as with most English municipal corporations, continued effectively unreformed until the Municipal Reform Act of 1835, although the freemen in general obtained the right to participate in the election of MPs after the Restoration. The Municipal Reform Act replaced the existing system of co-option for members of the council with elections by rate-payers. This led to a prolonged spell of Liberal control of the council.

Leicester became, in 1889, under the Local Government Act, a county borough. The Corporation was replaced in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, with the modern Leicester City Council, a non-metropolitan district council under Leicestershire County Council. Leicestershire County Council's jurisdiction over the City of Leicester was transferred to the City Council on 1 April 1997, making it a unitary authority, as part of the 1990s UK local government reform.

Lord Mayor

The position of Lord Mayor of Leicester is mainly a ceremonial post, and is combined with that of chairman of the council. The position is elected yearly by members of the council and rotates.

Wards

The City is divided into 21 electoral wards, each of which returns two or three councillors, using the bloc voting system, as follows:[3]

WardCouncillorsNotes
Abbey3from Abbey Park up to Stocking Farm and Mowmacre Hill
Aylestone2Aylestone Village, Gilmorton estate, part of Aylestone Park, Aylestone Meadows, one side of Saffron Lane from the Porkpie roundabout to Knighton Lane and Aylestone Road/Lutterworth Road from Grace Road to the county border at Glen Parva.
Beaumont Leys3
Belgrave3most of the Belgrave area
Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields3including most of Braunstone
Castle3city centre, Southfields, Clarendon Park
Evington3
Eyres Monsell2
Fosse2
Humberstone & Hamilton3including Nether Hall
Knighton3
North Evington3
Rushey Mead3Includes parts of the Belgrave area including Agar Street.
Saffron2
Spinney Hills2including parts of Highfields
Stoneygate3also including parts of Highfields
Thurncourt2The Thurnby Lodge estate
Troon2The Northfields estate, parts of the former Charnwood ward and a small part of the Rushey Mead area
Westcotes2
Western3The New Parks estate
Wycliffe2St Matthew's estate and part of Highfields

A new set of wards and ward boundaries came into effect for the 7 May 2015 council elections. Wards that previously existed and were abolished are Charnwood, Coleman, Freeman, Latimer, New Parks and Western Park.

The previous ward boundaries were adopted for the 2003 local elections.[4] Prior to this, there had been 28 wards, each electing 2 members. Wards that had existed and been abolished were Crown Hills, East Knighton, Mowmacre, North Braunstone, Rowley Fields, Saffron, St Augustine's, West Humberstone, West Knighton and Wycliffe.

Political control

The current composition of the council is as follows:

Party 2023 Election Current Composition
Labour 31 30
Conservative 17 17
Liberal Democrats 3 3
Green 3 3
Independent 0 1[5]

In December 2010 the council voted to introduce a directly elected mayor with effect from May 2011. Sir Peter Soulsby was elected to the post with 55% of the vote on the first ballot. He was re-elected in May 2015, 2019 and 2023 to serve four-year terms.

The next election is due to take place in May 2027,[6] although by-elections take place when a seat becomes vacant due to resignation or death of a councillor.

Arms

Coat of arms of Leicester City Council
Notes
Arms and crest granted in 1619, supporters in 1926.[7]
Crest
On a wreath of the colours a wyvern sans legs Argent strewed with wounds Gules wings expanded Ermine.
Escutcheon
Gules a cinquefoil pierced Ermine.
Supporters
On either side a lion reguardant Gules gorged with a ducal coronet suspended therefrom by a chain Or a cinquefoil Ermine pierced Gules.
Motto
Semper Eadem ('Always The Same')

Notes

    References

    1. "Open Council Data UK - compositions councillors parties wards elections".
    2. "Annual Meeting, Council, The Council Chamber, First Floor, Town Hall, Town Hall Square, Leicester". 18 May 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
    3. Local Government Boundary Commission for England. "Leicester (Electoral Changes) Order 2014". www.lgbce.org.uk. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
    4. Local Government Boundary Commission for England. "Electoral review of Leicester 2002". www.lgbce.org.uk. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
    5. Patel, Asha; Moorhouse, Sam (31 August 2023). "Councillor quits party after whole Labour branch suspended". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
    6. Keith Adkins. "UK Local Government Information - Trailor 2019". uklocalgov. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
    7. "East Midlands Region". Civic Heraldry of England. Retrieved 5 March 2021.

    52.6313°N 1.1334°W / 52.6313; -1.1334

    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.