Altrincham - Governance

Governance

Altrincham became a Free Borough, a self-governing township, when it was granted a charter in June 1290 by the Lord of the Manor, Hamon de Massey V. The charter allowed for the creation of a merchants' guild, run by the town's burgesses to tax people passing through the borough. Burgesses were free men who lived in the town. The borough was ruled by a Court Leet and elected a mayor since at least 1452. Amongst the court's responsibilities were keeping the public peace and regulating the markets and fairs.

The borough was not one of those reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835, and continued to exist under the control of the Lord of the Manor and the Court Leet until its final abolition in 1886. The Public Health Act of 1848 led to the creation of Altrincham's Local Board of Health in 1851 to address the unsanitary conditions created by the town's growing population – the first such board in Trafford. The local board was reconstituted as an urban district council in the administrative county of Cheshire under the Local Government Act 1894.

Altrincham Urban District was expanded in 1920 when parts of Carrington and Dunham Massey Civil Parishes were added. A further expansion took place in 1936; Timperley Civil Parish was abolished and most of its area incorporated into Altrincham UD. At the same time, there was a minor exchange of areas with Hale Urban District; a minor addition from Bowdon Urban District; and a further substantial portion of Dunham Massey Civil Parish was added. In 1937 the urban district was granted a charter of incorporation and became a municipal borough. The new borough was granted armorial bearings which featured heraldic references to the Masseys and Earls of Stamford. With the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, the administrative counties and municipal boroughs were abolished and Altrincham became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester on 1 April 1974.

Trafford Council is responsible for the administration of local services, such as education, social services, town planning, waste collection and council housing. The area is divided into seven electoral wards: Altrincham, Bowdon, Broadheath, Hale Barns, Hale Central, Timperley, and Village. These wards have 21 out of the 63 seats on the Trafford Council; as of the 2012 local elections sixteen of these seats were held by the Conservative Party, four by the Liberal Democrats, and one by the Labour Party. Altrincham was in the eponymous parliamentary constituency which was created in 1885. This lasted until 1945 when it was replaced by Altrincham and Sale. In 1997, this in turn became part of the newly created constituency of Altrincham and Sale West. Since its formation, Altrincham and Sale West has been represented in the House of Commons by the Conservative MP, Graham Brady. This is one of a small number of seats in the North West held by the Conservative Party, and one of only two Conservative seats in Greater Manchester.