Middlesbrough Council | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms[1] | |
 Logo | |
| Leadership | |
Erik Scollay since 27 November 2024[3] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 47 (46 councillors plus elected mayor) |
 | |
Political groups |
|
Joint committees | Tees Valley Combined Authority |
| Elections | |
| First past the post | |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Middlesbrough Town Hall | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Middlesbrough Council, also known asMiddlesbrough Borough Council, is the local authority for theBorough of Middlesbrough inNorth Yorkshire, England. Since 1996 the council has been aunitary authority, being adistrict council which also performs the functions of acounty council. Following the2023 local elections,Labour has held majority control of the council, which meets at theTown Hall. It is led by the directly-electedMayor of Middlesbrough (Chris Cooke since 2023). The council is a member of theTees Valley Combined Authority.
The town ofMiddlesbrough had been incorporated as amunicipal borough in 1853.[5] When elected county councils were established in 1889, Middlesbrough was considered large enough for its existing council to provide county-level services, and so it was made acounty borough, independent from the newNorth Riding County Council, whilst remaining part of theNorth Riding of Yorkshire for ceremonial purposes.[6]
The original borough of Middlesbrough was abolished in 1968, merging with several neighbouring authorities to become theCounty Borough of Teesside. That proved to be a short-lived local authority, being abolished just six years later when a new borough of Middlesbrough was created on 1 April 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972. The new borough covered the wards from Teesside which generally corresponded to both the pre-1968 borough and the former parishes ofHemlington,Marton andStainton (which had all been abolished and absorbed into Teesside in 1968), plus the parish ofNunthorpe from theStokesley Rural District. The re-created borough was a lower-tier district, being one of four districts within the new county ofCleveland. The county council provided county-level functions.[7]
Cleveland County Council was abolished in 1996 following theBanham Review and the borough council took over county-level functions, in effect restoring Middlesbrough to the powers it had held prior to 1968 when it had been a county borough. The way the 1996 change was implemented was to create a newnon-metropolitan county of Middlesbrough covering the same area as the existing borough, but with no separate county council; instead the existing borough council took on county functions, making it a unitary authority.[8] At the same time the borough was transferred for ceremonial purposes toNorth Yorkshire, but as a unitary authority it has always been independent fromNorth Yorkshire Council.[9][10]
The council calls itself Middlesbrough Council, although the longer name Middlesbrough Borough Council is also sometimes used.[11] It provides bothcounty-level anddistrict-level services. There are twocivil parishes in the borough atNunthorpe andStainton and Thornton which form a second tier of local government for their areas; while the rest of the borough isunparished.[12]
Since 2016, the council has been a member of theTees Valley Combined Authority.[13]
The council has been underLabour majority control since the2023 election.[14]
Political control of the council since it was re-established in 1974 has been as follows:[15]
Non-metropolitan district
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 1974–1996 | |
Unitary authority
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 1996–2019 | |
| No overall control | 2019–2023 | |
| Labour | 2023–present | |
Since 2002, political leadership on the council has been provided by the directly electedMayor of Middlesbrough. Prior to 2002 the council was led by aleader of the council, and the mayor had a more ceremonial role. The leaders from 1981 to 2002 were:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walter Ferrier[16] | Labour | 1981 | 1983 | |
| Michael Carr[17] | Labour | 1983 | 1995 | |
| Ken Walker[18][19] | Labour | 1995 | 5 May 2002 | |
The directly elected mayors since 2002 have been:[a]
| Mayor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Mallon[21][22] | Independent | 6 May 2002 | 10 May 2015 | |
| Dave Budd[23][24] | Labour | 11 May 2015 | 5 May 2019 | |
| Andy Preston[24][25] | Independent | 6 May 2019 | 7 May 2023 | |
| Chris Cooke[25] | Labour | 8 May 2023 | ||
Following the2023 election,[26] and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council (excluding the elected mayor's seat) was:[27][28]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 24 | |
| Conservative | 4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 2 | |
| Independent | 16 | |
| Total | 46 | |
Of the sixteen independent councillors, ten sit together as the "Middlesbrough Independent Councillors Association" and two form the "Marton East Independent Group"; the other four do not belong to a group.[29] The next election is due in 2027.[28]
Since the last full review of boundaries in 2015 the council has comprised 43councillors representing 20wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.[30]
Middlesbrough Council's senior decision making body is a committee known as the Executive. Similar to acabinet, the Executive consists of the Mayor and up to nine councillors appointed by the Mayor, as of November 2024 they are as follows:[31]
The council is based atMiddlesbrough Town Hall on Albert Road in the centre of Middlesbrough. The building is in two parts, being the main hall on the corner of Corporation Road (primarily an entertainment venue) and the Municipal Buildings to the south of the hall, facing Centre Square, which were built together between 1883 and 1889.[33] The council has additional offices in modern buildings near the Town Hall, notably at Middlesbrough House at 50 Corporation Road, which includes the customer centre,[34] and at Fountain Court at 119 Grange Road.[35]
The council's main offices were previously at the Civic Centre on Centre Square, immediately east of the Municipal Buildings and linked to them by a first floor bridge. The Civic Centre was completed in 1973.[36] The council vacated the Civic Centre in 2022 after purchasing nearby Fountain Court and relocating staff there.[37]
The mottoErimus ("We shall be" inLatin) was adopted, it reflectsFuimus ("We have been") of theBruce clan which wereCleveland's mediaeval lords.
The original arms was granted to theMiddlesbrough Rural District in 1911 byWilliam Hylton Dyer Longstaffe. The town'scoat of arms were three ships representing shipbuilding and maritime trade and an azure (blue) lion, the latter also from the Bruce clan. It was regranted in 1996 with slight modifications after the dissolution of Cleveland county: a star replaced the middle ship, this is fromCaptain James Cook's coat of arms.[38][39][40][41][clarification needed]
