City of Doncaster Council | |
|---|---|
 Council logo | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1 April 1974 |
| Leadership | |
Damian Allen since 2020[2] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | Elected mayor plus 55 councillors |
 | |
Political groups |
|
Joint committees | South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority |
| Elections | |
| Plurality-at-large | |
Last election | 1 May 2025 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Civic Office, Waterdale,Doncaster, DN1 3BU | |
| Website | |
| www | |
City of Doncaster Council is the local authority of theCity of Doncaster, ametropolitan borough withcity status inSouth Yorkshire, England. Prior to being awarded city status in 2022 the council was calledDoncaster Metropolitan Borough Council. The council is based at theCivic Office in Waterdale, centralDoncaster. It is one of four local authorities in South Yorkshire and provides the majority of local government services in Doncaster. The council is a member of theSouth Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.
The council is led by adirectly elected mayor. Since 2013 the post has been held byRos Jones of theLabour Party. Since the2025 election,Reform UK has held a majority of the seats on the council.
The town of Doncaster was anancient borough, with its first known charter dating from 1194.[3][4] The borough was reformed to become amunicipal borough in 1836 under theMunicipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country. By 1927 the borough was considered large enough to run its own county-level services, and so it was made acounty borough, independent fromWest Riding County Council.[5]
The county borough was abolished in 1974 and replaced by the largerMetropolitan Borough of Doncaster, which also took in the abolishedurban districts ofAdwick le Street,Bentley with Arksey,Conisbrough,Mexborough, andTickhill, therural districts ofDoncaster andThorne, and (from Nottinghamshire) the parish ofFinningley and part of the parish ofHarworth (the latter being added to the parish ofBawtry).[6][7] From 1974 until 1986 the council provideddistrict-level services, withcounty-level services provided bySouth Yorkshire County Council. Following the abolition of the county council in 1986, Doncaster also took on county-level services, with some functions provided injoint arrangements with the other South Yorkshire boroughs.[8][9]
Since 2014 the council has been a constituent member of theSouth Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (called the Sheffield City Region until 2021), which has been led by the directly electedMayor of South Yorkshire since 2018.
The borough was awarded city status in 2022, after which the council changed its named to City of Doncaster Council.[10]
The council provides both district-level and county-level services. Some functions are provided through joint committees with the other South Yorkshire authorities. Much of the borough is covered bycivil parishes, which form an additional tier of local government for their areas.[11]
At the 2025 elections, Reform UK won a majority of the seats on the council, while Labour's Ros Jones retained the position of elected mayor. Positions on the council's ruling cabinet are chosen by the mayor, and all cabinet positions were given to Labour councillors. Jones was also reported to be putting arrangements in place for certain Reform UK and Conservative councillors to be able to discuss policy in private before decisions are formally made by the cabinet.[12]
Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:[13][14]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 1974–2004 | |
| No overall control | 2004–2010 | |
| Labour | 2010–2025 | |
| Reform | 2025–present | |
Prior to 2002, political leadership was provided by theleader of the council. Since 2002, political leadership has been provided instead by a directly electedMayor of Doncaster. The council separately appoints acivic mayor each year, who is largely ceremonial.
The leaders from 1974 to 2002 were:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Les Adams[15][16] | Labour | 1974 | 1980 | |
| George Brumwell[17] | Labour | 1980 | May 1982 | |
| Martin Redmond[18][19] | Labour | May 1982 | 1983 | |
| Jim MacFarlane[19][20] | Labour | 1983 | 6 Nov 1985 | |
| Gordon Gallimore[21][22][23] | Labour | 1985 | 1994 | |
| Peter Welsh[24][25] | Labour | 1994 | 1997 | |
| Malcolm Glover[25] | Labour | 1997 | 1998 | |
| Colin Wedd[25] | Labour | 1998 | 2001 | |
| Martin Winter[26][27] | Labour | 2001 | 5 May 2002 | |
The directly elected mayors since 2002 have been:[a]
| Mayor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Winter[29] | Labour | 6 May 2002 | 28 May 2008 | |
| Independent[30] | 28 May 2008 | 7 Jun 2009 | ||
| Peter Davies[31][32] | English Democrat | 8 Jun 2009 | 5 Feb 2013 | |
| Independent[33] | 5 Feb 2013 | 5 May 2013 | ||
| Ros Jones[32] | Labour | 6 May 2013 | ||
Following the2025 election,[34] and a subsequent change of allegiance later in May 2025 from Reform UK to independent, the composition of the council (excluding the elected mayor's seat) was:[35][36]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Reform | 36 | |
| Labour | 12 | |
| Conservative | 6 | |
| Independent | 1 | |
| Total | 55 | |
The next election is due in 2029.[35]
The council is based at the Civic Office on Waterdale in Doncaster. It was purpose-built for the council and opened in January 2013.[37]
From 1992 until 2013 the council was based at the Council House on College Road, formerly called Coal House, which had been built in 1966 as the headquarters of theNational Coal Board. The Council House was subsequently demolished.[38]
The council's annual meeting where new civic mayors are appointed is held at the city'sMansion House.[39]
Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 55councillors representing 21wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.[40][41]
From 1973 to 2014, the council was elected by thirds every year except the year in which county council elections took place in other parts of England. In 2015, the whole council was elected due to boundary changes to the wards and it was decided that the whole council would be elected every four years from 2017, so that the council elections would coincide with the election of the Mayor of Doncaster.[42]
