Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council [1]
Type
Type	Metropolitan borough
Leadership
Leader	Alex Ganotis, Labour
Structure
Seats	63
No overall control
Political groups	Liberal Democrats (23)      Labour (21)      Conservative (14)      Heald Green Ratepayers (3)      Independent (2)
Joint committees	Greater Manchester Combined Authority Greater Manchester Police and Crime Panel
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	2014 (one third of councillors) 2015 (one third of councillors) 2016 (one third of councillors)
Next election	2018 (one third of councillors) 2019 (one third of councillors) 2020 (one third of councillors)
Meeting place
Town Hall, Edward Street, Stockport
Website
Stockport MBC

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The council is currently in no overall control, as at the 2016 local elections the Liberal Democrats lost their majority. Currently, the Liberal Democrats have 23 seats, Labour has 21 and the Conservatives have 14. There are also 5 independent councillors, 3 that represent the Heald Green Ratepayers and 2 others that are Independent.^[2]

Parliamentary representation

Stockport is currently covered by four constituencies: Cheadle, Stockport, Hazel Grove and Denton and Reddish.

Wards and Councillors

There are 21 wards, each represented by three councillors.^[3]

Council Wards
1 Bramhall North
2 Bramhall South
3 Bredbury & Woodley
4 Bredbury Green & Romiley
5 Brinnington & Central
6 Cheadle & Gatley
7 Cheadle Hulme North
8 Cheadle Hulme South
9 Davenport & Cale Green
10 Edgeley & Cheadle Heath
11 Hazel Grove
12 Heald Green
13 Heatons North
14 Heatons South
15 Manor
16 Marple North
17 Marple South
18 Offerton
19 Reddish North
20 Reddish South
21 Stepping Hill

Executive Councillors

The Executive Committee of the Council consists of eight Executive Councillors:

• Chair: Alex Ganotis (also Policy, Finance and Devolution)
• Vice-Chair: Wendy Wild (also Adult Social Care)
• Economy and Regeneration: Kate Butler
• Communities and Housing: Sheila Bailey
• Education: Dean Fitzpatrick
• Children and Family Services: Colin Foster
• Health: Tom McGee
• Reform and Governance: David Sedgwick

Structure

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (Stockport Council) uses an executive system. There are eight executive councillors, including the leader of the council; each has a separate portfolio containing responsibilities for different services and areas of the council. There are also six scrutiny committees which scrutinize decisions made by the executive.

Politics

Stockport Council has 63 elected members, belonging to three different parties. No party has overall control.

In the council elections on Thursday 1 May 2008, in which one third of the seats were up for re-election, there were two main changes. In the Cheadle & Gatley ward, incumbent councillor Paul Carter of the Liberal Democrat party lost his seat to the Conservative candidate Mick Jones. Similarly in the Brinnington and Central Ward, Labour councillor Maureen Rowles lost her seat to the Liberal Democrat candidate Christian Walker. However, a short time after this election, he chose to serve as an Independent Councillor, then returned to the Liberal Democrats, then declared himself Independent again.

During 2009, which was supposed to be a "fallow year" (one without elections), there were three by-elections following the deaths of serving councillors. Subsequently, Labour Councillor Anne Graham joined the Liberal Democrat group, bringing them to 36 Councillors of 63.

On 2 February 2011, Councillors David White, Roy Driver and Anne Graham all resigned from the Liberal Democrat Group. All three cited unhappiness with the national party's involvement with a "Tory-led" government. They became Independent Left Councillors, forming the Independent Left Group on the Council, whilst awaiting the result of membership applications to the Labour Party and subsequently joined the Labour Group after the 2011 elections. Roy Driver was not selected for a seat in the May 2011 elections but may contest a seat for Labour in May 2012.

On 21 January 2012, Patrick McAuley, Labour Councillor for Manor since May 2011, announced on Twitter that he had resigned from the Labour Party but that would continue to serve as a councillor; he subsequently joined the Liberal Democrat group in December 2012.

In October and November 2014, Stockport Labour lost 3 seats with Brian Hendley, Paul Moss and Laura Booth all leaving the party. Hendley was deselected without his knowing, Moss resigned due to house building on Reddish Vale Country Park and Booth quit over allegations of a "culture of systematic bullying".^[4]

The 'All Out'

In the 2004 election, all councilors on the council were put up for election at the same time. This election was conducted exclusively by postal voting. Each elector was given three votes, and asked to pick three candidates. The number of votes each candidate received then determined when they would next stand for election.

Elections were then scheduled for 2007, 2008, and 2010.

Non-mainstream parties

Heald Green Ratepayers are the only non-mainstream candidates to win seats.

References

1. ↑ Stockport Council
2. ↑ "Your Councillors". democracy.stockport.gov.uk. Stockport MBC. 
3. ↑ Stockport Council
4. ↑ Davis, Matthew (5 November 2014). "Third councillor quits Stockport Labour Party in a month". Manchester Evening News. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 31 May 2016. 

External links

• Stockport MBC

Electoral wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport
	Bramhall North Bramhall South & Woodford Bredbury and Woodley Bredbury Green and Romiley Brinnington and Central Cheadle and Gatley Cheadle Hulme North Cheadle Hulme South Davenport and Cale Green Edgeley and Cheadle Heath Hazel Grove Heald Green Heatons North Heatons South Manor Marple North Marple South Offerton Reddish North Reddish South Stepping Hill

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