Cheshire West and Chester - Politics and Administration

Politics and Administration

See also: Cheshire West and Chester local elections

The electoral wards for the new unitary authority were the same as those used in the former Cheshire County Council elections, with each ward electing 3 councillors. The first elections to the authority took place on 1 May 2008, with the Conservatives gaining control with a majority of 38 councillors. When first contested there were 72 elected councillors in the authority led by Councillor Mike Jones.

Due to boundary changes put into effect prior to 2011 elections, 3 additional councillor seats were created, making a total of 75 councillors in the authority. The new wards are a mixture of single member wards, two member wards and three member wards. The Conservative Party retained control with a diminished majority having won 42 seats whilst Labour won 32 seats and the Liberal Democrats won 1. It is likely that the changes in the ward boundaries favoured the opposition parties when compared with the ward boundaries used for the 2008 which were seen as favouring the Conservative party. The 2008 elections took place when the Labour party nationally was performing particularly badly.

Details of the current councillors can be found using this link: http://cmttpublic.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx? . There was a by-election in October 2011 following the death of Labour Party Leader Derek Bateman in July 2011. Cllr Lynn Clare was duly elected to represent the Ellesmere Port Town ward.