Borough of Hartlepool

Hartlepool Borough
Unitary authority area, borough
Borough of Hartlepool
From left to right Top: Hartlepool Marina Middle: Elwick and Dalton Piercy Bottom: Seaton Carew Esplanade and Headland with St Hilda's Church
The borough within County Durham and England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	North East England
Combined authority	Tees Valley
Ceremonial county	County Durham
Government
•  Tees Valley Mayor:	Ben Houchen
•  MPs:	Jill Mortimer (C)
Area
• Total	36 sq mi (94 km2)
• Rank	204th
Population  (2022)
• Total	93,861
• Rank	Ranked 258th
• Density	2,600/sq mi (1,000/km2)
Ethnicity (2021) [1]
•  Ethnic groups	List 96.5% White 1.7% Asian 0.7% Mixed 0.6% other 0.5% Black
Religion (2021) [1]
•  Religion	List 52.5% Christianity 40.1% no religion 5.1% not stated 1.3% Islam 0.3% other 0.2% Hinduism 0.2% Buddhism 0.2% Sikhism 0.1% Judaism
Time zone	UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
ONS code	00EB (ONS) E06000001 (GSS)
Website	www.hartlepool.gov.uk

The Borough of Hartlepool is a local government district with borough status in County Durham, England. Since 1996 Hartlepool Borough Council has been a unitary authority, which gives it both district-level and county-level functions; it is independent of Durham County Council. It is named after its largest settlement, Hartlepool, where the council is based. The borough also includes a rural area to the west of the town. The population of the borough at the 2021 census was 92,571, of which over 95% (87,995) lived in the built-up area of Hartlepool itself.

Since 2016 the council has been a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority, which has been led by the directly elected Tees Valley Mayor since 2017. The Hartlepool constituency has been coterminous with the borough since 1983.

The neighbouring districts are the County Durham district and Stockton-on-Tees; the borough also adjoins Redcar and Cleveland across the mouth of the River Tees.

History

The town of Hartlepool was an ancient borough, having been granted a charter by King John in 1200. ^{[2] [3]} It was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1850. This borough covered the relatively small area now known as the Headland, where the original town was located. ^[4]

The new town of West Hartlepool was laid out from the 1840s on land outside Hartlepool's historic borough boundaries, in the neighbouring parish of Stranton. A body of improvement commissioners was established to administer the new town in 1854. ^[5] The commissioners' district was enlarged in 1883 to include Seaton Carew. ^[6] The commissioners were superseded in 1887, when West Hartlepool was incorporated as a separate borough. ^[7] In 1902 West Hartlepool was elevated to become a county borough, making it independent from Durham County Council. ^[8]

After several unification efforts starting in 1902, the two boroughs of Hartlepool and West Hartlepool merged into a single county borough in 1967, also absorbing at the same time the neighbouring parish of Seaton (being the residual rural part of the old parish of Seaton Carew) to provide coastal land for industrial development. ^{[9] [10]}

The borough was reformed and enlarged on 1 April 1974, by the merger of the previous county borough of Hartlepool, along with the parishes of Brierton, Claxton, Dalton Piercy, Elwick, Elwick Hall, Greatham, Hart and Newton Bewley, from the Stockton Rural District, all of which had been part of the administrative county of Durham. The enlarged borough was transferred at the same time from County Durham to the new non-metropolitan county of Cleveland. ^[11]

Cleveland was abolished in 1996 following the Banham Review, which gave unitary authority status to its four districts, including Hartlepool. The borough was restored to County Durham for ceremonial purposes at the same time, but as a unitary authority it is independent from Durham County Council. ^[12] Hartlepool continues to share certain local services with the other former Cleveland boroughs, including the Cleveland Police and Cleveland Fire Brigade.

Governance

Hartlepool Borough Council
Type
Type	Unitary authority
Leadership
Mayor	Shane Moore, Independent Union since 16 May 2023 [13]
Leader	Mike Young, Conservative since 16 May 2023
Managing Director	Denise McGuckin since 7 September 2020 [14]
Structure
Seats	36 councillors
Political groups	Administration (24) [15]   Labour (24) Other parties (12)   Conservative (6)   Independent (5)   Independent Union (1)
Joint committees	Tees Valley Combined Authority
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	2 May 2024
Meeting place
Civic Centre, Victoria Road, Hartlepool, TS24 8AY
Website
www.hartlepool.gov.uk

Hartlepool Borough Council provides both county-level and district-level services. There are also nine civil parishes in the borough, which form a second tier of local government for their areas; the rest of the borough is an unparished area. ^[16]

Since 2016 the council has been a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority. ^[17]

In May 2021, the four parish councils of Elwick, Hart, Dalton Piercy and Greatham all issued individual votes of no confidence in Hartlepool Borough Council, and expressed their desire to re-join County Durham. ^[18] Subsequently, quarterly parish liaison meetings were set up between the parish and borough councils, and a new Parish Charter was adopted. ^[19]

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2019. Following the 2023 election a coalition of the Conservatives, Independent Union and independents formed to run the council, led by Conservative councillor Mike Young. ^[20]

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows: ^{[21] [22]}

Non-metropolitan district

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1974–1976
	No overall control	1976–1979
	Labour	1979–1996

Unitary authority

Party in control			Years
	Labour		1996–2000
	No overall control		2000–2004
	Labour		2004–2008
	No overall control		2008–2010
	Labour		2010–2019
	No overall control		2019–2024
	Labour		2024–present

Leadership

See also: Mayor of Hartlepool

Since 2013 the role of mayor has been largely ceremonial in Hartlepool. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council.

Between 2002 and 2013, Hartlepool was one of a small number of councils in the United Kingdom to have a directly elected mayor. This followed a referendum held in the borough in October 2001. ^[23] The first mayoral election was held in May 2002, and became famous for being won by the mascot of Hartlepool United F.C., 'H'Angus the Monkey', ^[24] with a majority of approximately 500 over the second-placed Labour Party candidate. The man inside the monkey costume, Stuart Drummond, served as mayor as an independent, being re-elected in 2005 with a majority of over 10,000 ^[25] and again in 2009 with a second round majority of 844.

In November 2012 Hartlepool voted in a referendum to abolish the directly elected mayor and return to having a leader of the council, as it had done prior to 2002, being the leadership model used by most English councils. ^[26] 7,366 voted against the directly elected mayor system, while 5,177 voted to retain it, on a turnout of 18%. ^[26]

The leaders from 1999 to 2002 were:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Ray Waller [27]		Labour		1999
Russell Hart [28]		Labour	1999	2000
Arthur Preece [29]		Liberal Democrats	2000	5 May 2002

The directly elected mayor was:

Mayor	Party		From	To
Stuart Drummond		Independent	6 May 2002	2 May 2013

The leaders since 2013 have been: ^[30]

Councillor	Party		From	To
Christopher Akers-Belcher		Labour	2 May 2013	May 2019
Shane Moore		Independent Union	23 May 2019	12 Sep 2019
		Brexit Party [31]	12 Sep 2019	31 Jan 2020
		Independent Union [32]	31 Jan 2020	16 May 2023
Mike Young		Conservative	16 May 2023

Composition

Following the 2024 election the composition of the council was: ^[15]

Party		Councillors
	Labour	24
	Conservative	6
	Independent	5
	Independent Union	1
Total		36

Elections

See also: Hartlepool Borough Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2020 the council has comprised 36 councillors representing 12 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four-year term of office. ^[33]

Premises

The council is based at the Civic Centre on Victoria Road, which was built in the 1970s. ^[34] Prior to that it was based at the Municipal Buildings on Church Square, which had been built in 1889 for the old West Hartlepool Borough Council. ^[35] Before the 1967 merger the old Hartlepool Borough Council had been based at Hartlepool Borough Hall on Middlegate.

Municipal Buildings, Church Square: Built 1889 for West Hartlepool Borough Council

Hartlepool Borough Hall: Built 1866 for the old Hartlepool Borough Council

Hartlepool Civic Centre: Built 1970s following merger of the two boroughs.

Settlements

See also: List of civil parishes in County Durham

Settlements in the borough include:

Brierton Claxton Dalton Piercy Elwick Greatham Hart Hart Station Hartlepool The Headland

Middleton Newton Bewley Owton Rift House Seaton Carew Stranton Throston West View

Demography

Main article: Demographics of Tees Valley

Ethnicity

Ethnic Group	Year
	1991 [36]		2001 [37]		2011 [38]		2021 [39]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
White: Total	89,765	99.3%	87,569	98.8%	89,899	97.7%	89,068	96.4%
White: British	–	–	86,874	98%	88,924	96.6%	87,761	95.0%
White: Irish	–	–	235		193		170	0.2%
White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller	–	–	–	–	40		37	0.0%
White: Roma							19	0.0%
White: Other	–	–	460		742		1,081	1.2%
Asian or Asian British: Total	486	0.5%	602	0.7%	1,304	1.4%	1,600	1.7%
Asian or Asian British: Indian	160		187		266		335	0.4%
Asian or Asian British: Pakistani	106		204		291		297	0.3%
Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi	73		73		214		278	0.3%
Asian or Asian British: Chinese	94		110		229		217	0.2%
Asian or Asian British: Other Asian	53		28		304		473	0.5%
Black or Black British: Total	78	–	70	–	170	0.2%	445	0.6%
Black or Black British: African	31	–	36	–	36		327	0.4%
Black or Black British: Caribbean	21	–	16	–	129		57	0.1%
Black or Black British: Other Black	26	–	18	–	5		61	0.1%
Mixed or British Mixed: Total	–	–	311	0.4%	550	0.6%	671	0.8%
Mixed: White and Black Caribbean	–	–	85	–	180		143	0.2%
Mixed: White and Black African	–	–	34	–	54		115	0.1%
Mixed: White and Asian	–	–	94	–	173		240	0.3%
Mixed: Other Mixed	–	–	98	–	143		173	0.2%
Other: Total	80	–	59	–	105	0.1%	554	0.6%
Other: Arab	–	–	–	–	57		270	0.3%
Other: Any other ethnic group	80	–	59	–	48		284	0.3%
Total	90,409	100%	88,611	100%	92,028	100%	92,338	100%

References

1. UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – Hartlepool Local Authority (E06000001)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 5 January 2024.
2. Surtees, Robert (1823). The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham: Volume 3. London: Nichols and Son. pp. 99–120. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
3. Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into the Municipal Corporations in England and Wales: Appendix 3. 1835. p. 1531. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
4. "Hartlepool Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
5. "West Hartlepool Improvement Act 1854". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
6. "Seaton Carew Township / Civil Parish". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
7. "West Hartlepool Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
8. "West Hartlepool Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
9. Hartlepool Order 1966 Commons debate and Lords debate
10. "Local Government Boundaries (Hartlepool)". House of Commons Debates. 7 February 1967. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
11. "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 28 February 2024
12. "The Local Government Changes for England (Miscellaneous Provision) Regulations 1995", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1995/1748, retrieved 6 March 2024
13. Marko, Nic (19 May 2023). "'Humbled and honoured' former Hartlepool council leader becomes town's new mayor". Hartlepool Mail. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
14. Marko, Nic (11 June 2020). "Meet the new woman at the helm of Hartlepool council as new leadership team announced". Hartlepool Mail. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
15. Marko, Nic (3 May 2024). "Win for Labour in Hartlepool as they lead council for first time since 2019". The Northern Echo . Darlington. Archived from the original on 4 May 2024. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
16. "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
17. "The Tees Valley Combined Authority Order 2016". legislation.gov.uk . The National Archives. SI 2016/449. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
18. Nic Marko (10 May 2021), "Four Hartlepool villages have 'no confidence' in borough council and want to join Durham", Hartlepool Mail
19. "Charter sets the seal on stronger partnership between Hartlepool's Borough and Parish Councils". Hartlepool Borough Council. 23 March 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
20. "Hartlepool Council's new leader promises exciting times ahead". BBC News. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
21. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
22. "Hartlepool". BBC News. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
23. Mark Sandford (March 2002). "Who wants an elected mayor? Lessons from the first wave". New Economy. 9 (1). Institute of Public Policy Research: 47–51. doi:10.1111/1468-0041.00239.
24. "Monkey mascot elected mayor". BBC News. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
25. "Winning 'monkey' mayor gains wife". BBC News. 6 May 2005. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
26. Mulholland, Hélène (16 November 2012). "Mayor H'Angus the Monkey finally loses his Hartlepool habitat". The Guardian . London: 16 November 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
27. Hetherington, Peter (1 May 2000). "Labour struggle for the heart of Hartlepool". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
28. "Former Hartlepool council leader Russell Hart dies". Hartlepool Mail. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
29. "Councillor's bid to be mayor". Northern Echo. 19 March 2002. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
30. "Council minutes". Hartlepool Borough Council. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
31. Scott, Jim (13 September 2019). "The Brexit Party takes hold of Hartlepool Borough Council". Northern Echo. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
32. Marko, Nic (5 February 2020). "Brexit Party loses control in Hartlepool after council leader Shane Moore quits party". Hartlepool Mail. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
33. "The Hartlepool (Electoral Changes) Order 2019", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 2019/1089, retrieved 2 March 2024
34. "Hartlepool Civic Centre". Hartlepool Borough Council. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
35. Historic England. "Cleveland College of Art and Design, former Municipal Buildings, Church Square (Grade II) (1250113)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 29 February 2024.
36. Data is taken from United Kingdom Casweb Data services of the United Kingdom 1991 Census on Ethnic Data for England, Scotland and Wales (Table 6)
37. "Office of National Statistics; 2001 Census Key Statistics". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
38. "2011 Census: Ethnic Group, local authorities in England and Wales". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
39. "Ethnic group – Office for National Statistics". ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2022.

External links

• Hartlepool Borough Council

54°41′11″N1°12′39″W / 54.68639°N 1.21083°W / 54.68639; -1.21083