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City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council

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City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford has had an elected council since 1847, which has been reformed on several occasions. Since 1974 it has been a metropolitan district council. It provides the majority of local government services in the city. The council has been a member of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority since 2014.

City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
Coat of arms
Council logo
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 1974
Leadership
Bev Mullaney,
Labour
since 21 May 2024[1]
Susan Hinchcliffe,
Labour
since 17 May 2016
Lorraine O'Donnell
since 2023[2]
Structure
Seats90 councillors
Political groups
Administration (49)
  Labour (49)
Other parties (41)
  Conservative (13)
  Green (10)
  Liberal Democrats (5)
  Independent (13)
Joint committees
West Yorkshire Combined Authority
Elections
Last election
2 May 2024
Next election
7 May 2026
Meeting place
City Hall, Centenary Square, Bradford, BD1 1HY
Website
www.bradford.gov.uk

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2014. It meets at Bradford City Hall and has its main offices at Britannia House.

History

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The town of Bradford had been governed by improvement commissioners from 1793.[3] It was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1847, after which it was governed by a body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Bradford", generally known as the corporation or town council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Bradford was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services and so it was made a county borough, independent from the new West Riding County Council.[4] The borough boundaries were enlarged several times between 1847 and 1974.[5] Bradford was awarded city status in 1897, after which the corporation was also known as the city council. On 16 September 1907 the council was granted the right to appoint a lord mayor.[6]

The modern metropolitan district and its council were in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The new district covered the whole area of eight former districts and parts of another two, which were all abolished at the same time:[7]

Bradford's city status and lord mayoralty were transferred to the whole of the new district on the day the new system came into force.[8] As such the council could call itself "Bradford City Council", which name is sometimes used for it in official documents and the media,[9][10] but the council styles itself "City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council" instead.

Between 1974 and 1986 the council was a lower tier district-level authority, with county-level functions being provided by West Yorkshire County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986, with Bradford taking on the county council's former functions in the area.[11]

In March 2006, the UK's Audit Commission issued a report "in the public interest" regarding concerns about the procurement process for the acquisition of an asset management system. The report identified weaknesses in the Council's programme management and procurement processes, which the Council accepted "without reservation".[12]

In 2012 a referendum was held on whether to introduce a directly elected mayor for Bradford; the proposal was rejected, with 55% of the votes being against it.[13] Since 2014 the council has been a constituent member of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.[14] The combined authority has been led by the directly elected Mayor of West Yorkshire since 2021.

Political control

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The council has been under Labour majority control since 2014.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms took effect has been as follows:[15]

Party in control Years
Conservative 1974–1980
Labour 1980–1982
No overall control 1982–1986
Labour 1986–1988
No overall control 1988–1990
Labour 1990–2000
No overall control 2000–2014
Labour 2014–present

Leadership

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See also: List of mayors of Bradford

The role of Lord Mayor is largely ceremonial in Bradford. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1979 have been:[16][17]

Councillor Party From To
Brian Womersley Conservative 1979 1980
Derek Smith Labour 1980 1982
Tom Hall Conservative 1982 1984
Ronnie Farley Conservative 1984 1986
Phil Beeley Labour 1986 1988
Eric Pickles Conservative 1988 1990
Tommy Flanagan Labour 1990 1992
Gerry Sutcliffe Labour 1992 1994
Tony Cairns[18] Labour 1994 1997
John Ryan Labour 1997 1998
Ian Greenwood Labour 1998 2000
Margaret Eaton Conservative 2000 2006
Kris Hopkins Conservative 2006 25 May 2010
Ian Greenwood Labour 25 May 2010 6 May 2012
David Green Labour 22 May 2012 17 May 2016
Susan Hinchcliffe Labour 17 May 2016

Composition

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Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was:

Party Councillors
Labour 49
Conservative 13
Green 10
Independent 13
Liberal Democrats 5
Total 90

Of the independent councillors, ten sit together as the "Bradford Independent" group, one sits in a group with the Conservatives, and the other two do not belong to a group.[19] The next election is due in 2026.

Elections

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See also: City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council elections
 
Map of wards within the City of Bradford

Since the last boundary changes in 2004 the council has comprised 90 councillors representing 30 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) being elected each time for a four year term of office.[20]

Parliamentary constituencies

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The district is currently covered by five constituencies with six wards in each constituency: Bradford East, Bradford South, Bradford West, Keighley and Shipley.[21]

Premises

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Britannia House, Hall Ings: Council's main offices.

The council meets at Bradford City Hall on Centenary Square in the city centre, which had been completed in 1873 for the old borough council.[22] The council's main offices are nearby in Britannia House on Hall Ings.[23]

References

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  1. ^ Iqbal, Aisha (22 May 2024). "Mayor's arts charity to help young talent thrive". BBC News. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  2. ^ Young, Chris (3 July 2023). "Bradford Council set to appoint Lorraine O'Donnell as Chief Executive". Rombalds Radio. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  3. ^ "West Yorkshire Archive Service News". Bradford Historical and Antiquarian Society. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  4. ^ Local Government Act 1888
  5. ^ "Bradford Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  6. ^ "No. 28065". The London Gazette. 1 October 1907. p. 6575.
  7. ^ "Local Government Act 1972: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70 (sch. 1), retrieved 20 June 2024
  8. ^ "No. 46255". The London Gazette. 4 April 1974. p. 4400.
  9. ^ "The City of Bradford (Mayoral Referendum) Order 2012", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2012/325, retrieved 26 December 2023
  10. ^ "Storm Pia brings disruption to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire". BBC News. 22 December 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  11. ^ Local Government Act 1985
  12. ^ Audit Commission, Report in the Public Interest under Section 8 of the Audit Commission Act 1988: City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Audit 2005-2006, March 2006
  13. ^ "Local elections 2012: RESEARCH PAPER 12/27" (PDF). UK: House of Commons Library. 21 May 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  14. ^ "The West Yorkshire Combined Authority Order 2014", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2014/864, retrieved 26 December 2023
  15. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  16. ^ "Council minutes". City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  17. ^ "Bradford Timeline". Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  18. ^ Young, Chris (15 February 2021). "Tributes paid to former Council leader and Lord Mayor Tony Cairns". Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  19. ^ "Your councillors by party". City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  20. ^ "The City of Bradford (Electoral Changes) Order 2004", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2004/122, retrieved 26 December 2023
  21. ^ "Your MPs". bradford.moderngov.co.uk. Bradford Council. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  22. ^ Historic England. "Bradford City Hall (Grade I) (1133675)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  23. ^ "Contact us". City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
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