Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council

Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council
Type
Type	Metropolitan Borough of the Sefton
Leadership
Leader of the Council	Ian Maher, Labour Party
Structure
Seats	66
Joint committees	Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority Merseyside Police and Crime Panel
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	22 May 2014
Next election	7 May 2015
Meeting place
Southport Town Hall, Lord Street, Southport
Website
sefton.gov.uk

Sefton Council is the governing body for the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, north-western England. The council was under no overall control from the 1980s until 2012 when the Labour Party took control. It is a constituent council of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.^[1]

Wards

It consists of sixty-six councillors, three for each of the borough's twenty-two wards which are as listed:

• Ainsdale
• Birkdale
• Blundellsands
• Cambridge
• Church
• Derby
• Dukes
• Ford
• Harington
• Kew
• Linacre
• Litherland
• Manor
• Meols
• Molyneux
• Netherton and Orrell
• Norwood
• Park
• Ravenmeols
• St. Oswald
• Sudell
• Victoria

Political makeup

Elections are usually by thirds, in three of every four years.

Party		Councillors	Change (on 2012)
	Conservative	7 (6)*	-2
	Labour	40 (41)*	+4
	Liberal Democrat	17	-3
	Independent	2	+1
Total		66	-
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/councils/E08000014

• In June after the election a sitting conservative Councillor defected to Labour.^[2]

Year	Control
2012–Present	Labour
1986–2012	No overall control
1973†–1986	Conservative

Elections since 2000

Since 2000 the borough has been divided into 22 wards, each returning 3 councillors. This necessitated an election of the whole council in 2000, returning to a system of elections by thirds thereafter.^[3]

Year		Conservative		Labour		Liberal Democrats		UKIP		Green	Others	Control
2015[4]	7		42		16		0		0		1 - independent conservative 1- community action not politics	Labour
2012[5]	8		36		20		0		0		2	Labour
2011[6]	14		28		23		1		0		0	No overall control
2010[7]	15		23		28		0		0		0	No overall control
2008[8]	18		21		27		0		0		0	No overall control
2007[9]	18		22		26		0		0		0	No overall control
2006[10]	19		21		26		0		0		0	No overall control
2004[11]	19		20		27		0		0		0	No overall control
2003[12]	17		25		21		0		0		3	No overall control
2002[13]	16		26		21		0		0		3	No overall control
2000[14]	19		22		25		0		0		0	No overall control

Elections 1973-1999

From 1973 to 2000 the borough was divided into 23 wards, returning 3 councillors each, giving a total of 69 councillors.^[15][16] One third of seats was elected in three out of every four years.^[17] Councillors had a four-year term of office, and there were elections to the Merseyside County Council were held in the years in which borough elections were not held until the county council's abolition in 1986.^[17]

Year		Conservative		Labour		Liberal‡		Independent	Others‡	Control
						Lib Dems‡
1999[18]	15		30		24		0		0	No overall control
1998[19]	14		31		23		1		0	No overall control
1992[20]	25		27		17		0		0	No overall control
1991[21]	22		27		20		0		0	No overall control
1990[22]	24		27		18		0		0	No overall control
1988[23]	25		24		20		0		0	No overall control
1987[24]	27		24		15		0		SDP 3	No overall control
1986[25]	30		24		12		0		SDP 2 1 vacancy	Conservative lose to no overall control
1984[26]	36		22		9		1		SDP 1	Conservative
1983[27]	39		21		7		1		SDP 1	Conservative
1982[28]	39		20		5		1		SDP 4	Conservative
1980[29]	39		22		5		1		Ratepayers 2	Conservative
1979[30]	41		23		4		0		Ratepayers 1	Conservative
1978[31]	44		21		3		0		Ratepayers 1	Conservative
1976[32]	43		21		3		1		Ratepayers 1	Conservative
1975[33]	40		22		3		2		Ratepayers 2	Conservative
1973†[34]	37		24		3		2		Ratepayers 3	Conservative

• † The first election of councillors was on 10 May 1973. Sefton Council operated as a "shadow" authority before coming into its full powers on 1 April 1974. There were no elections in 1974, with elections by thirds starting in 1975.^[17][34]
• ‡ The Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party merged to form the Liberal Democrats in March 1988.

History

Sefton Council was created by the local government reorganisation of 1974, which created a two-tier system of government in the United Kingdom. It was a metropolitan district of the metropolitan county of Merseyside. Until 1986, the five metropolitan borough councils of Merseyside shared power with the central Merseyside County Council, but this was later abolished and its functions devolved solely to its districts. As a result, the borough is effectively a unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Merseyside.

Sefton Council is not directly responsible for transport, waste-disposal and emergency services - these are administered by joint-boards of the five boroughs of Merseyside.

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. http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/news/southport-news/seftons-tory-leaders-spoken-disappointment-7345071
3. "The Borough of Sefton (Electoral Changes) Order 1999". The National Archives. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
4. 2014 Summary - Sefton Council
5. 2012 Summary - Sefton Council
6. 2011 Summary - BBC News
7. 2010 Summary - BBC News
8. 2008 Summary - BBC News
9. 2007 Summary - BBC News
10. 2006 Summary - BBC News
11. 2004 Summary - BBC News
12. 2003 Summary - BBC News
13. 2002 Summary - BBC News
14. 2000 Summary - BBC News
15. Metropolitan County of Merseyside (Electoral Divisions and Wards) Order 1973
16. Borough of Sefton (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1978 (S.I. 1978/1863)
17. Local government in England and Wales: A Guide to the New System. London: HMSO. 1974. p. 184. ISBN 0117508470.
18. 1999 Summary - BBC News
19. "Local Elections results". The Times. 9 May 1998. p. 46.
20. "Local election results 1992". The Times. 9 May 1992. p. 6.
21. "Complete round-up of results from Thursday's local council elections". The Times. 4 May 1991.
22. "Yesterday's Local election results". The Times. 4 May 1990.
23. The Guardian, 6 May 1988
24. The Guardian, 8 May 1987
25. The Guardian, 4 May 1986
26. "Labour takes Birmingham, Liberals do well". The Times. 4 May 1984. p. 5.
27. "Labour capture Liverpool: Tories hold Birmingham". The Times. 6 May 1983. p. 4.
28. "How the councils fared". The Times. 8 May 1982. p. 2.
29. "Labour makes gains throughout Britain in local government elections". The Times. 2 May 1980. p. 4.
30. Martin Minogue, ed. (1979). A Consumer's Guide to Local Government (2 ed.). Macmillan for the National Consumer Council. ISBN 9780333271162.
31. "Power shift in only eight of 80 councils outside London". The Times. 6 May 1978. p. 3.
32. "Conservatives control 17 metropolitan councils". The Times. 8 May 1976.
33. "Tories capture 199 seats in 'big cities' poll triumph". The Times. 2 May 1975.
34. "Three major parties find cause for satisfaction in local election results despite low poll". The Times. 14 May 1973.

External links

• Sefton Council
• Latest election results, May 2006
• Southport Conservative Party
• Sefton Central Conservative Party
• Sefton Labour Party
• Southport Liberal Democrats
• Crosby Liberal Democrats