Salford City Council

Local government body in England

Salford City Council

Coat of arms

Council logo

Type
Type|

Metropolitan borough council

Leadership

Ceremonial Mayor

Tanya Burch,
Labour
since 15 May 2024[1]

Mayor

Paul Dennett,
Labour
since 6 May 2016

Chief Executive

Tom Stannard
since 1 February 2021 [2]

Structure
Seats| 60 councillors plus elected mayor[3]

Political groups

Administration (50)
Labour (50)
Opposition (10)
Conservative (7)
Liberal Democrats (2)
Independent (1)

Joint committees

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

Voting system

| First past the post

Last election

| 2 May 2024

Next election

| 7 May 2026
Motto
Salus populi suprema lex
(The welfare of the people is the highest law)
Meeting place
Salford Civic Centre, Chorley Road, Swinton, Manchester, M27 5AW
Website
www.salford.gov.uk

Salford City Council is the local authority for the City of Salford, a metropolitan borough with city status in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government services in the city. The council has been a member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority since 2011.

The council has been under Labour majority control since the metropolitan borough was created in 1974. Since 2012 the council has been led by the directly elected Mayor of Salford, which post has been held by Paul Dennett of the Labour Party since 2016. The council is based at Salford Civic Centre in Swinton.

## History

[edit]

Further information: County Borough of Salford

The settlement of Salford had anciently been administered as a township within the parish of Manchester, which in turn formed part of the Salford Hundred.[4] Around 1230 the settlement was given a charter by Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, who was the lord of the manor at the time, making it a seigneurial borough with a limited degree of self-government.[5] In 1791 a body of improvement commissioners was established to administer the town, largely superseding the old manorial authorities.[6]

Former Town Hall, Salford: Completed 1827, meeting place of the old city council until 1974

Salford was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1844, after which it was governed by a body formally called the 'mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Salford', generally known as the corporation or town council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Salford 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.[7] Salford was granted city status in 1926, after which the corporation was also known as the city council.[8][9]

The larger metropolitan district of Salford 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 five outgoing authorities, being the borough councils of Salford, Eccles and Swinton and Pendlebury and the urban district councils of Irlam and Worsley. 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.[10] Salford's borough and city statuses both passed to the new district, allowing the council to take the name Salford City Council and appoint a mayor, continuing Salford's series of mayors dating back to 1844.[11][12]

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 Salford City Council, with some services provided through joint committees.[13]

Between 2005 and 2020 some services, including property, highways and infrastructure, planning and building control were provided by Urban Vision, a public-private partnership formed between the city council, Capita and Galliford Try.[14] The contract with Urban Vision finished in 2020 and was not renewed, with services being brought back in-house to the council.[15]

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 Manchester City Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions.[16][17]

In 2012 the council changed to having a directly elected mayor as its political leader. The position is called the Mayor of Salford. Prior to 2012 the title Mayor of Salford had been used for the council's chairperson and ceremonial figurehead, performing non-political civic duties. The more ceremonial role continues, but now renamed the ceremonial mayor.[18]

## Governance

[edit]

Salford City Council provides metropolitan borough services. Some strategic functions in the area are provided by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority; the Mayor of Salford sits on the combined authority as Salford's representative.[19] There are no civil parishes in the city.[20]

### Political control

[edit]

The council has been under Labour majority control since the 1974 reforms.[21][22]

Party | Period

|

| Labour | 1974–present

### Leadership

[edit]

Prior to 2012, political leadership was provided by the leader of the council. The leaders from 1974 to 2012 were:[23]

Councillor | Party | From | To

|
|
|

Les Hough[24] |  | Labour | 1974 | 26 Apr 1987
Ken Edwards[25] |  | Labour | 20 May 1987 | May 1988
Bill Hinds[26][27] |  | Labour | May 1988 | May 2003
John Merry |  | Labour | May 2003 | 6 May 2012

In 2012 the council changed to having a directly elected mayor as its political leader. The mayors since 2012 have been:

Mayor | Party | From | To

|
|
|

Ian Stewart |  | Labour | 7 May 2012 | 8 May 2016
Paul Dennett |  | Labour | 9 May 2016 |

### Composition

[edit]

Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was:[28]

Party  | Councillors

|

| Labour | 50
| Conservative | 7
| Liberal Democrats | 2
| Independent | 1
Total  | 60

The next election is due in May 2026.

## Elections

[edit]

See also: Salford City Council elections

Since the last boundary changes took effect in 2021, 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.[29]

## Wards and councillors

[edit]

Ward  | Councillor  | Party  | Term of office

|
|
|

Barton and Winton | John Mullen  |  | Labour | 2022-26
David Lancaster  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Jacqui Fahy  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Blackfriars and Trinity | Roseanna Wain  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Emma Cammell  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Jane Hamilton  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Boothstown and Ellenbrook | Les Turner  |  | Conservative | 2022-26
Darren Ward  |  | Conservative | 2023-27
Bob Clarke  |  | Conservative | 2024-28
Broughton | John Merry  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Jim King  |  | Labour Co-op | 2023-27
Maria Brabiner  |  | Labour Co-op | 2024-28
Cadishead and Lower Irlam | Yolande Amana-Ghola  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Hannah Robinson-Smith  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Lewis Nelson  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Claremont | Neil Reynolds  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Mike Pevitt  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Barbara Bentham  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Eccles | Nathaniel Tetteh  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Mike McCusker  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Sharmina August  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Higher Irlam and Peel Green | Mishal Saeed  |  | Labour | 2022-26
John David Walsh  |  | Labour Co-op | 2023-27
Tracy Kelly  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Kersal and Broughton Park | Avrohom Walters  |  | Independent | 2022-26
Ari Leitner  |  | Conservative | 2023-27
Arnold Saunders  |  | Conservative | 2024-28
Little Hulton | Teresa Pepper  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Rob Sharpe  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Tony Davies  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Ordsall | Benjamin Grogan  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Brendan Kerville  |  | Labour | 2024-26
Tanya Burch  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Pendlebury and Clifton | Chioma Mgbeokwere  |  | Labour | 2023-26
Barry Warner  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Su Matthews  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Pendleton and Charlestown | John Warmisham  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Wilson Nkurunziza  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Michelle Barnes  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Quays | Jake Rowland  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Paul Heilbron  |  | Liberal Democrats | 2024-26
Jonathan Moore  |  | Liberal Democrats | 2024-28
Swinton and Wardley | Gina Reynolds  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Bill Hinds  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Jim Dawson  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Swinton Park | Stuart Dickman  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Jim Cammell  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Heather Fletcher  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Walkden North | Jack Youd  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Samantha Bellamy  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Adrian Brocklehurst  |  | Labour Co-op | 2024-28
Walkden South | Irfan Syed  |  | Labour | 2022-26
Hilaria Asumu  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Joshua Brooks  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Weaste & Seedley | Alexis Shama  |  | Labour Co-op | 2022-26
Charlotte Youd  |  | Labour | 2023-27
Philip Cusack  |  | Labour | 2024-28
Worsley and Westwood Park | Adam Kealey  |  | Conservative | 2022-26
Robin Garrido  |  | Conservative | 2023-27
James Prady  |  | Labour | 2024-28

## Premises

[edit]

The council is based at Salford Civic Centre on Chorley Road in Swinton. The building had been completed in 1938 as Swinton and Pendlebury Town Hall, originally serving as the headquarters of Swinton and Pendlebury Borough Council.[30] For postal purposes, Swinton comes under the Manchester post town, although the council itself quotes the Civic Centre's address as "Swinton, Salford" (administratively accurate but not postally) rather than the postally correct "Swinton, Manchester".[31] The council has additional offices at Turnpike House at 631 Eccles New Road.[32]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Stephenson, Katherine (16 May 2024). "£44,000 boost to Salford charities as new Ceremonial Mayor installed". Salford Now. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
2. ^ "Salford City Council appoints new chief executive". salford.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
3. ^ "Open Council Data UK - compositions councillors parties wards elections". opencouncildata.co.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
4. ^ "Salford Chapelry / Civil Parish". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
5. ^ Ballard, Adolphus; Tait, James, eds. (1923). British Borough Charters 1216–1307. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. lxxv–lxxvi. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
6. ^ A History of the County of Lancaster. London: Victoria County History. 1911. pp. 204–217. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
7. ^ "Salford Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
8. ^ "No. 33154". The London Gazette. 23 April 1926. p. 2776.
9. ^ "No. 41596". The London Gazette. 2 January 1959. p. 89.
10. ^ "Local Government Act 1972: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70 (sch. 1), retrieved 30 May 2024
11. ^ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1974. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
12. ^ "No. 46255". The London Gazette. 4 April 1974. p. 4400.
13. ^ "Local Government Act 1985", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1985 c. 51, retrieved 5 April 2024
14. ^ "About us". urbanvision.org.uk. Urban Vision. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
15. ^ "Urban Vision". salford.gov.uk. Salford City Council. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
16. ^ "The Greater Manchester Combined Authority Order 2011", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2011/908, retrieved 30 May 2024
17. ^ "Understand how your council works". gov.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
18. ^ "Ceremonial Mayor of Salford". sccdemocracy.salford.gov.uk. Salford City Council. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
19. ^ "GMCA Members". Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
20. ^ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
21. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
22. ^ "Salford". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
23. ^ "Council minutes". Salford City Council. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
24. ^ "Last respects to council leader". Salford Advertiser. 7 May 1987. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
25. ^ "A new era for council". Salford Advertiser. 28 May 1987. p. 18. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
26. ^ "Council has new leader". Salford Advertiser. 19 May 1988. p. 3. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
27. ^ Keeling, Neal (13 April 2011). "Ex-Salford Labour council leader Bill Hinds rapped over 'bust up in town hall corridor' with Lib Dem leader Norman Owen". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
28. ^ "Local elections 2024: full mayoral and council results for England". The Guardian. 4 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
29. ^ "The Salford (Electoral Changes) Order 2019", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2019/1125, retrieved 2 June 2024
30. ^ "Civic Centre history". Salford City Council. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
31. ^ "Your council". Salford City Council. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
32. ^ "How to find us". Salford City Council. Retrieved 2 June 2024.

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[edit]

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