North Tyneside Council, or North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority for the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government services in the borough. The council has been a member of the North East Combined Authority since 2024.
North Tyneside Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1 April 1974 |
| Leadership | |
Paul Hanson since August 2018[2] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | Elected mayor plus 60 councillors |
 | |
Political groups |
|
Joint committees | North East Combined Authority |
| Elections | |
| First-past-the-post | |
Last election | 2 May 2024 |
Next election | 7 May 2026 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Quadrant East, 16 The Silverlink North, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE27 0BY | |
| Website | |
| my | |
The council has been under Labour majority control since 2011. It is based at Quadrant East in Cobalt Park, a large business park in the centre of the borough.
History
editNorth Tyneside and its council were created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as one of five districts within the new metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear. The district covered the whole area of three former districts and parts of another two, which were all abolished at the same time:
- Longbenton Urban District
- Seaton Valley Urban District (Backworth, Earsdon and Shiremoor wards only, rest went to Blyth Valley)
- Tynemouth County Borough (which included North Shields)
- Wallsend Municipal Borough
- Whitley Bay Municipal Borough (all except the Hartley and Seaton Sluice area, which went to Blyth Valley)
The whole area had been in Northumberland prior to the reforms; as a county borough, Tynemouth had been independent from Northumberland County Council but had been part of Northumberland for ceremonial purposes.[3] The new district was granted borough status from its creation, allowing it to appoint a mayor.[4]
North Tyneside Council initially provided district-level functions, with county-level functions being provided by Tyne and Wear County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986, after only twelve years in existence, and its functions passed to the area's five district councils.[5]
In 2002 the council changed to having a directly elected mayor; prior to that the mayor had been a more ceremonial position.
Governance
editSince 1986 the council has provided both district-level and county-level functions, with some services being provided through joint arrangements with the other Tyne and Wear councils. In 2024 a combined authority was established covering North Tyneside, County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland, called the North East Mayoral Combined Authority. It is chaired by the directly elected Mayor of the North East and oversees the delivery of certain strategic functions across the area.[6] [7]
Political control
editThe council has been under Labour majority control since 2011.
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[8][9]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 1974–1986 | |
| No overall control | 1986–1987 | |
| Labour | 1987–2004 | |
| No overall control | 2004–2008 | |
| Conservative | 2008–2010 | |
| No overall control | 2010–2011 | |
| Labour | 2011–present | |
Leadership
editPrior to 2002, political leadership was provided by the leader of the council. In 2002 the council changed to having a directly elected mayor. There have been periods where the mayor is of one party but the majority of the councillors are of another party.
The leaders from 1974 to 2002 were:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Bamborough[10] | Labour | 1 Apr 1974 | 18 May 1984 | |
| Brian Flood | Labour | 18 May 1984 | 5 May 1996 | |
| Rita Stringfellow[11] | Labour | May 1996 | 5 May 2002 | |
The mayors since 2002 have been:
| Mayor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Morgan | Conservative | 6 May 2002 | 18 Apr 2003 | |
| Linda Arkley | Conservative | 12 Jun 2003 | 8 May 2005 | |
| John Harrison | Labour | 9 May 2005 | 7 Jun 2009 | |
| Linda Arkley | Conservative | 8 Jun 2009 | 5 May 2013 | |
| Norma Redfearn | Labour | 6 May 2013 | ||
Composition
editFollowing the 2024 election, the composition of the council (excluding the elected mayor's seat) was:[12][13]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 51 | |
| Conservative | 8 | |
| Independent | 1 | |
| Total | 60 | |
The next election is due in May 2026.
Elections
editSince the last boundary changes in 2024 the council has comprised 60 councillors representing 20 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.[14]
Premises
edit
Since 2008 the council has been based at Quadrant East, a modern office building at Cobalt Park, a large business park in the centre of the borough.[15] With an NE27 postcode, the building comes under the Newcastle upon Tyne post town, although the council itself quotes the address as "North Tyneside" (administratively accurate but not postally).[16][17] The building is in the part of the borough which was the County Borough of Tynemouth prior to 1974.[18]
Prior to 2008 the council's offices were in several locations across the borough. Meetings were held at Wallsend Town Hall.[19]
References
edit- ^ Shakespeare, Austen (17 May 2024). "New North Tyneside Council chairman elected who has served 26 years as councillor". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
- ^ Holland, Daniel (22 June 2018). "Who is Paul Hanson? Meet North Tyneside Council's new chief executive". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ "Local Government Act 1972: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70 (sch. 1)
- ^ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1974. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
- ^ "Local Government Act 1985", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1985 c. 51, retrieved 28 March 2024
- ^ "The North East Mayoral Combined County Authority (Establishment and Functions) Order 2024", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2024/402, retrieved 6 May 2024
- ^ "North East devolution deal". GOV.UK. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
- ^ "North Tyneside". BBC News Online. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ Trelease, Helen (10 May 1984). "Council boss loses battle: 10-year reign ends". The Journal. Newcastle upon Tyne. p. 9. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ "Ex-Labour leader will stand down". Chronicle Live. 5 November 2003. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
- ^ "Your councillors by party". North Tyneside Council. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ "The North Tyneside (Electoral Changes) Order 2024", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2024/138, retrieved 27 March 2024
- ^ "Quadrant, North Tyneside Council". Art UK. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- ^ "Contact the council". North Tyneside Council. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
- ^ "Find an address". Royal Mail. Retrieved 9 June 2024. Searching for the council's NE27 0BY postcode on the Royal Mail address finder gives the official postal address as "North Tyneside Council, 16 The Silverlink North, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE27 0BY"
- ^ "Georeferenced maps". National Library of Scotland. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
- ^ "Budget Changes Secure Services". BBC. 11 March 2003. Retrieved 21 November 2020.