Middlesbrough Council

Middlesbrough Council, formerly known as Middlesbrough Borough Council, is a unitary authority based in Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England, but independent of the county council. The authority has combined some duties with its nearby councils to form the Tees Valley Combined Authority. The borough is often considered to be larger than current borough boundaries, with a total built-up population of 174,700.[2] It is in the statistical region of North East England.

Middlesbrough Council
Type
Type	Unitary authority
Leadership
Chair of the Council	Cllr John Hobson, Independent since 22 May 2019
Mayor of Middlesbrough	Mayor Andy Preston, Independent since 2 May 2019[1]
Deputy Mayor	Cllr Antony High, Independent
Chief executive	Tony Parkinson since 28 March 2017
Structure
Seats	Elected mayor 46 councillors
Political groups	Independent (23)   Labour (20)   Conservative (3)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	2 May 2019
Next election	May 2023
Meeting place
Middlesbrough Town Hall
Website
www.middlesbrough.gov.uk

The council's borough had a resident population in 2001 of 134,855. A 2006 mid-year estimate suggests the Borough to have a population of 138,400.[3] The borough council unsuccessfully bid to achieve city status in 2012, to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.[4]

History

Middlesbrough Borough Council was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, from part of the former County Borough of Teesside, along with the parish of Nunthorpe from the Stokesley Rural District. It was a district, and the county town of the new county of Cleveland from 1 April 1974, until 1996. As a district, it was one of the four constituent districts of Cleveland: Cleveland being the upper tier in the two-tier system. When Cleveland was abolished under the Banham Review, Middlesbrough became a unitary authority and as such took on the rights and duties of a county, and only ceremonially part of North Yorkshire, but not run by it.

The borough borders Stockton-on-Tees unitary authority to the west, Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority to the east and the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire to the south.

Mayor

As a borough council Middlesbrough is entitled to a mayor. Middlesbrough's council is led by a directly elected mayor, currently Andy Preston.

2011 election

Mayor of Middlesbrough 2011[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Ray Mallon	17,917	50.4%	-8.3%
	Labour	Michael John Carr	11,405	32.1%	+20.2%
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Foote Wood	3,256	9.2%	-14.5%
	Conservative	Lloyd Cole-Nolan	3,001	8.4%	+2.6%
Majority			6,512	18.3%	-16.7%
Turnout				36.5%
	Independent hold		Swing	14.2% to Lab

Political composition

Below is the political composition of the council in 2008 and 2011.

Year	Labour	Conservatives	Liberal Democrats	Independents/Greens
2008	26	6	5	11
2011	30	4	1	13
2015	33	4	0	9
2019	20	3	0	23

The borough has 23 council wards. Middlesbrough is mostly unparished, with Nunthorpe and Stainton and Thornton being the only parishes.

Coat of arms

The original coat of arms of the Borough was devised in the nineteenth century by William Hylton Dyer Longstaffe,[6] and regranted in 1996 with slight modifications after the dissolution of Cleveland County. The images, from the collection of the Heraldry Society,[7] will be found on Robert Young's Civic Heraldry website.[8]

References

1. "Election results 2019". Middlesbrough. Middlesbrough Council. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
2. "2011 UK Census statistics". Retrieved 23 September 2013.
3. Selected age groups for local authorities in United Kingdom: mid-2006 population estimates
4. Middlesbrough has thrown its hat into the ring – the Guardian
5. "2011 Mayoral Election". Middlesbrough Council. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
6. GENUKI: Middlesbrough Parish information from Bulmers' 1890
7. "Heraldry Society". Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
8. "Robert Young's Civic Heraldry website".

External links

• Middlesbrough Council Website