Bury Metropolitan Borough Council

Coat of arms

Council logo

Type
Type|

Metropolitan borough council

History
Founded| 1 April 1974
Leadership

Mayor

Khalid Hussain,
Conservative
since 5 May 2024[1]

Leader

Eamonn O'Brien,
Labour
since 20 May 2020

Chief Executive

Lynne Ridsdale
since 16 May 2018

Structure
Seats| 51 councillors[2]

Political groups

Administration (32)
Labour (32)
Other parties (19)
Conservative (10)
Radcliffe First (8)
Independent (1)

Joint committees

| Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Greater Manchester Police, Fire and Crime Panel
Elections

Last election

| 2 May 2024

Next election

| 7 May 2026
Meeting place
Town Hall, Knowsley Street, Bury, BL9 0SW
Website
www.bury.gov.uk

Bury Metropolitan Borough Council, also known as Bury Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury in Greater Manchester, 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 Greater Manchester Combined Authority since 2011.

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2011. It is based at Bury Town Hall.

## History

[edit]

Further information: County Borough of Bury

The town of Bury had been governed by improvement commissioners from 1846. They were replaced in 1876 when the town was incorporated as a municipal borough, after which it was governed by a body formally called the 'mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Bury', generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council.[3] When elected county councils were established in 1889, Bury was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services, and so it became a county borough, independent from the new Lancashire County Council, whilst remaining part of the geographical county of Lancashire.[4]

The larger Metropolitan Borough of Bury and its council were created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as one of ten metropolitan districts within the new metropolitan county of Greater Manchester. The first election was held in 1973. For its first year the council acted as a shadow authority alongside the area's six outgoing authorities, being the borough councils of Bury, Prestwich and Radcliffe, and the urban district councils of Ramsbottom, Tottington and Whitefield. The new metropolitan district and its council formally came into being on 1 April 1974, at which point the old districts and their councils were abolished.[5]

The metropolitan district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Bury's series of mayors dating back to 1876.[6] The council styles itself Bury Council rather than its full formal name of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council.[7]

From 1974 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the Greater Manchester County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to Greater Manchester's ten borough councils, including Bury, with some services provided through joint committees.[8]

Since 2011 the council has been a member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which has been led by the directly elected Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. The combined authority provides strategic leadership and co-ordination for certain functions across Greater Manchester, notably regarding transport and town planning, but Bury Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions.[9][10]

## Governance

[edit]

Bury Council provides metropolitan borough services. Some strategic functions in the area are provided by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority; the leader of Bury Council sits on the combined authority as Bury's representative.[11] There are no civil parishes in the borough; the whole area is unparished.[12]

### Political control

[edit]

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2011.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms took effect has been as follows:[13][14]

Party in control | Years

|

| No overall control | 1974–1975
| Conservative | 1975–1986
| Labour | 1986–1992
| No overall control | 1992–1995
| Labour | 1995–2006
| No overall control | 2006–2008
| Conservative | 2008–2010
| No overall control | 2010–2011
| Labour | 2011–present

### Leadership

[edit]

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Bury. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2002 have been:[15]

Councillor | Party | From | To

|
|
|

John Byrne |  | Labour | pre-2002 | 18 May 2005
Wayne Campbell |  | Labour | 18 May 2005 | 16 May 2007
Bob Bibby |  | Conservative | 16 May 2007 | 18 May 2011
Mike Connolly |  | Labour | 18 May 2011 | 18 May 2016
Rishi Shori |  | Labour | 18 May 2016 | 10 Jul 2019
David Jones |  | Labour | 10 Jul 2019 | 20 May 2020
Eamonn O'Brien |  | Labour | 20 May 2020 |

### Composition

[edit]

Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was:[16]

Party  | Councillors

|

| Labour | 32
| Conservative | 10
| Radcliffe First | 8
| Independent | 1
Total  | 51

The next election is due in May 2026.

## Elections

[edit]

See also: Bury Metropolitan Borough Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2022, the council has comprised 51 councillors representing 17 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.[17]

## Wards and councillors

[edit]

Each ward is represented by three councillors.[18]

Council Wards
1 Ramsbottom
2 North Manor
3 Tottington
4 Elton
5 Moorside
6 Bury West
7 Bury East
8 Redvales
9 Radcliffe North & Ainsworth
10 Radcliffe East
11 Radcliffe West
12 Unsworth
13 Pilkington Park
14 Besses
15 St. Mary's
16 Holyrood
17 Sedgley Parliamentary constituency  | Ward  | Councillor  | Party  | Term of office

|
|
|
|

Bury North constituency | Bury East  | Ayesha Arif  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Ummrana Farooq  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Gavin McGill  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Bury West  | Shahbaz Arif  |  | Conservative | 2023-27
Jackie Harris  |  | Conservative | 2022-26
Dene Vernon  |  | Conservative | 2024-28
Elton  | Martin Hayes  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Charlotte Morris  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Jack Rydeheard  |  | Conservative | 2022-26
Moorside  | Ciaron Boles  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Babar Ibrahim  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Sandra Walmsley  |  | Labour | 2022-26
North Manor  | Roger Brown  |  | Conservative | 2022-26
Khalid Hussain (Mayor)  |  | Conservative | 2023-27
John Southworth  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Radcliffe North and Ainsworth  | Donald Berry  |  | Radcliffe First  | 2022-26
Andrea Booth  |  | Radcliffe First  | 2024-28
Jo Lancaster (Conservative Group Deputy Leader)  |  | Conservative | 2023-27
Ramsbottom  | Clare Cummins  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Tom Pilkington  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Gareth Staples-Jones  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Redvales  | Nikki Frith  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Shaheena Haroon  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Tamoor Tariq (Labour Group Deputy Leader)  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Tottington  | Iain Gartside  |  | Conservative | 2023-27
Luis McBriar  |  | Conservative | 2024-28
Yvonne Wright  |  | Independent | 2022-26
Bury South constituency | Besses  | Noel Bayley  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Miriam Rahimov  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Lucy Smith  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Holyrood  | Elliot Moss  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Imran Rizvi  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Lynn Ryder  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Pilkington Park  | Russell Bernstein (Conservative Group Leader)  |  | Conservative | 2022-26
Elizabeth Fitzgerald  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Michael Rubinstein  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Radcliffe East  | Carol Birchmore  |  | Radcliffe First  | 2022-26
Ken Simpson  |  | Radcliffe First  | 2024-28
Mary Walsh  |  | Radcliffe First  | 2023-27
Radcliffe West  | Des Duncalfe  |  | Radcliffe First  | 2024-28
Glyn Marsden  |  | Radcliffe First  | 2022-26
Mike Smith (Radcliffe First Group Leader)  |  | Radcliffe First  | 2023-27
Sedgley  | Richard Gold  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Alan Quinn  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Debbie Quinn  |  | Labour | 2023-27
St. Mary's  | Debra Green  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Eamonn O'Brien (Labour Leader and Leader of the Council)  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Sean Thorpe  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Unsworth | Nathan Boroda  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Joan Grimshaw  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Tahir Rafiq  |  | Labour | 2023-27

## Premises

[edit]

The council is based at the Town Hall on Knowsley Street in Bury. The building was officially opened in 1954 for the old Bury Borough Council; construction had begun fifteen years earlier but had been interrupted by the Second World War.[19] In 2023 the council announced plans to refurbish the building, allowing the council to consolidate its other offices into the Town Hall, notably from Knowsley Place opposite.[20]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Oldman, Isabel (24 May 2024). "Bury: North Manor councillor Khalid Hussain sworn in as Mayor". Bury Times. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
2. ^ "Councillor information - Bury Council".
3. ^ "Records of Bury Improvement Commissioners/Bury County Borough". Bury Archives Catalogue. Metropolitan Borough of Bury. Archived from the original on 28 October 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2008.
4. ^ "Bury Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
5. ^ "Local Government Act 1972: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70 (sch. 1), retrieved 30 May 2024
6. ^ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1974. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
7. ^ "Find your local council". gov.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
8. ^ "Local Government Act 1985", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1985 c. 51, retrieved 5 April 2024
9. ^ "The Greater Manchester Combined Authority Order 2011", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2011/908, retrieved 30 May 2024
10. ^ "Understand how your council works". gov.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
11. ^ "GMCA Members". Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
12. ^ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
13. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
14. ^ "Bury". BBC News Online. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
15. ^ "Council minutes". Bury Council. Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
16. ^ "Local elections 2024: full mayoral and council results for England". The Guardian. 4 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
17. ^ "The Bury (Electoral Changes) Order 2022", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2022/131, retrieved 30 May 2024
18. ^ "Your Councillors". bury.gov.uk. Bury MBC. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
19. ^ Frain, Sean (2013). The Bury Book of Days. History Press. ISBN 9780752489629. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
20. ^ Mutch, James (13 April 2023). "Plans to refurb Bury Town Hall to 'develop single service hub'". Bury Times. Retrieved 30 May 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Local authorities in Greater Manchester

Joint arrangements|

* Combined authority
* Fire and rescue service
* Local government association
* Police and crime commissioner
* Police, fire and crime panel
* Waste disposal authority

Metropolitan district councils|

* Bolton
* Bury
* Manchester
* Oldham
* Rochdale
* Salford
* Stockport
* Tameside
* Trafford
* Wigan

Parish councils|

* Blackrod
* Horwich

* v
* t
* e

Metropolitan districts of England

Districts|

* Barnsley
* Birmingham
* Bolton
* Bradford
* Bury
* Calderdale
* Coventry
* Doncaster
* Dudley
* Gateshead
* Kirklees
* Knowsley
* Leeds
* Liverpool
* Manchester
* Newcastle upon Tyne
* North Tyneside
* Oldham
* Rochdale
* Rotherham
* Salford
* Sandwell
* Sefton
* Sheffield
* Solihull
* South Tyneside
* St Helens
* Stockport
* Sunderland
* Tameside
* Trafford
* Wakefield
* Walsall
* Wigan
* Wirral
* Wolverhampton

Councils|

* Barnsley
* Birmingham
* Bolton
* Bradford
* Bury
* Calderdale
* Coventry
* Doncaster
* Dudley
* Gateshead
* Kirklees
* Knowsley
* Leeds
* Liverpool
* Manchester
* Newcastle upon Tyne
* North Tyneside
* Oldham
* Rochdale
* Rotherham
* Salford
* Sandwell
* Sefton
* Sheffield
* Solihull
* South Tyneside
* St Helens
* Stockport
* Sunderland
* Tameside
* Trafford
* Wakefield
* Walsall
* Wigan
* Wirral
* Wolverhampton

Local elections|

* Barnsley
* Birmingham
* Bolton
* Bradford
* Bury
* Calderdale
* Coventry
* Doncaster
* Dudley
* Gateshead
* Kirklees
* Knowsley
* Leeds
* Liverpool
* Manchester
* Newcastle upon Tyne
* North Tyneside
* Oldham
* Rochdale
* Rotherham
* Salford
* Sandwell
* Sefton
* Sheffield
* Solihull
* South Tyneside
* St Helens
* Stockport
* Sunderland
* Tameside
* Trafford
* Wakefield
* Walsall
* Wigan
* Wirral
* Wolverhampton

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