Sefton Council | |
---|---|
Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Phil Porter since July 2023 | |
Structure | |
Seats | 66 councillors [4] |
Political groups |
|
Joint committees | Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority and Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner |
Elections | |
Last election | 2 May 2024 |
Next election | 7 May 2026 |
Meeting place | |
Bootle Town Hall | |
Website | |
www |
Sefton Council is the governing body for the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in the ceremonial county of Merseyside, in North West England. The council was under no overall control from the 1980s until 2012 when the Labour Party took control. It is a constituent council of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. [5]
Sefton Council was established on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 which created a two-tier system of local government in the United Kingdom. It was initially a metropolitan district of the metropolitan county of Merseyside and then became a metropolitan borough on 17 April 1975 following the grant of a Royal Charter.
Following the Local Government Act 1985, The Merseyside County Council was abolished on 31 March 1986 and its functions were devolved to the five metropolitan borough councils of Merseyside and joint-boards. As a result, Sefton Council is a unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Merseyside, which is served by the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside.
Sefton Council is not directly responsible for transport, waste-disposal and emergency services. These are administered by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and the Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner which have their own legislative powers. Sefton Council appoints members of the Council to represent the Council on those bodies. Details of the Council representatives can be accessed via: https://modgov.sefton.gov.uk/mgListOutsideBodies.aspx?bcr=1
The council consists of sixty-six councillors, three for each of the borough's twenty-two wards which are as listed:
Elections are held by thirds, in three of every four years, except when by-elections are held. [6] Following the local elections held on 2 May 2024, the political composition is as follows:
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Labour | 49 | |
Liberal Democrats | 9 | |
Conservative | 4 | |
Independent | 2 | |
Green | 1 | |
Total | 65 | |
There is currently one vacancy in the St. Oswald Ward [7] with a by-election to be held on 20 June 2024.
In the most recent local elections, the Labour Party gained 1 seat from the Conservative Party in the Harington Ward and 1 seat from the Lydiate and Maghull Community Independents in the Park Ward. The Labour Party also lost one seat to the Green Party in the Church Ward. This is the first time the Green Party have won a seat on Sefton Council.
In April 2024, prior to the local elections, Councillors Natasha Carlin and Sean Halsall left the Labour Group and became Independent Members in no political group.
The Labour Party has held a majority of the seats on the Council since May 2012. Ian Maher, a Labour councillor, had been leader of the council since 2015. [8] He stepped down on 18 January 2024 and was replaced by Marion Atkinson, a fellow Labour councillor. The next Council elections are due in May 2026.
The council meets at both Bootle Town Hall and Southport Town Hall, each of which was inherited from one of the council's predecessor authorities. Full council meetings are usually held alternately at Bootle and Southport. [9]
The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England. It was formed on 1 April 1974, by the amalgamation of the county boroughs of Bootle and Southport, the municipal borough of Crosby, the urban districts of Formby and Litherland, and part of West Lancashire Rural District. It consists of a coastal strip of land on the Irish Sea which extends from Southport in the north to Bootle in the south, and an inland part to Maghull in the south-east, bounded by the city of Liverpool to the south, the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley to the south-east, and West Lancashire to the east.
Bootle is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449.
Crosby is a coastal town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is north of Bootle, south of Southport and Formby, and west of Netherton. It abuts the areas of Blundellsands to the north and Waterloo to the south. It is approximately 6 miles (9.6 km) north of Liverpool City Centre.
Freshfield is an area of Formby, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, situated at the northern end of the town. It has no local political distinction or representation and is included as part of the two council wards which make up Formby, nor is it any longer separated in a physical sense from the town.
Little Altcar is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton on Merseyside, within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire and on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain of England. The village forms part of the built-up area of Formby. It had a population of 892 in the 2001 Census, increasing to 910 at the 2011 Census.
Netherton is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, in Merseyside, England.
Bootle is a constituency which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, since 2015 by Peter Dowd of the Labour Party.
Crosby was a constituency in Merseyside, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 until 2010. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Southport is a constituency in Merseyside which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Damien Moore of the Conservative Party.
Seaforth is a district in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is north of Liverpool, between Bootle and Waterloo.
Sefton Central is a constituency represented by Bill Esterson of the Labour Party since 2010.
The 2003 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council in Merseyside, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.
Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council elections are generally held three years out of every four, with a third of the council being elected each time. Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, generally known as Sefton Council, is the local authority for the metropolitan borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. Since the last boundary changes in 2004, 66 councillors have been elected from 22 wards.
The 2012 Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council election took on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council in England, as part of the 2012 United Kingdom local elections. 22 seats, representing one third of the total Council membership, were up for election in single-member wards. Ten - nearly half - of the members elected were newcomers to the Council; five of these defeated sitting Councillors seeking re-election, whilst in the other five wards, the incumbent retired. Two incumbents stood under different labels to those they were elected under in 2008; both were defeated in their wards.
Wirral Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. Wirral is a metropolitan borough, one of five in Merseyside, and provides the majority of local government services in Wirral. The council is a constituent member of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
Peter Christopher Dowd is a British Labour Party politician. He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bootle in May 2015. From 2017 to 2020, he served as the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
The 2016 Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2016 to elect members of Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. Sefton is divided into 22 wards, each electing 3 councillors, totalling up to 66 seats. Note, only 22 seats were up for election.
The second Liverpool City Region mayoral election was held in May 2021 to elect the mayor of the Liverpool City Region, alongside other local elections across England and Wales, to elect councillors, the mayor of Liverpool, and police and crime commissioners across the city region. The election was originally due to take place in May 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2022 Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022. One third of councillors — 15 out of 45 — on Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council were elected. The election took place alongside other local elections across the United Kingdom.
The 2024 Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2024 to elect members of Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council in Merseyside, England. This was on the same day as other local elections across England, Liverpool's City Region mayoral election and Merseyside's Police and Crime Commissioner election.