Cheshire East Council

Cheshire East Council is the local authority for Cheshire East, a local government district with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. It has been under no overall control since 2019, being run by a coalition of Labour, local parties and independent councillors, led by Labour councillor Sam Corcoran. The council's main offices are in Sandbach, but there are plans to move them to Crewe.

History
The council and district were created in 2009, covering the combined area of the former districts of Congleton, Crewe and Nantwich and Macclesfield. The new council also took on the functions of the abolished Cheshire County Council in the area. Cheshire East is both a non-metropolitan district and a non-metropolitan county, but there is no separate county council; instead the district council performs both district and county functions, making it a unitary authority. For the purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty, Cheshire East remains part of the ceremonial county of Cheshire.

The new district was awarded borough status from its creation on 1 April 2009, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. The council's full legal name is therefore Cheshire East Borough Council, although it styles itself Cheshire East Council.

Governance
The council provides both district-level and county-level functions. In its capacity as a district council it is a billing authority collecting Council Tax and business rates, and it is responsible for town planning, housing, waste collection and environmental health. In its capacity as a county council it is a local education authority, and is responsible for social services, libraries and waste disposal. The whole borough is covered by civil parishes, which form a second tier of local government.

Political control
Until May 2019 the council was controlled by the Conservatives. At the 2019 elections the council was left under no overall control. On 22 May 2019, the newly elected councillors met for the first time and elected Labour's Sam Corcoran as leader, after the party came to an agreement with independent councillors. A similar coalition, still led by Corcoran, continued to form the council's administration following the 2023 elections.

The first election to the council was held in 2008, initially acting as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 2009. Political control of the council since 2009 has been as follows:

Leadership
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Cheshire East. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The first leader, Wesley Fitzgerald, had been the last leader of the old Macclesfield Borough Council. The leaders of Cheshire East Council since 2009 have been:

Composition
Following the 2023 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2024, the composition of the council was as follows: Seven of the independent councillors sit with the local parties Residents of Wilmslow, Tytherington Independents and Alderley First as the "Independent Group", which forms the council's administration in coalition with Labour. The other three independents (one of whom describes herself as "independent socialist") do not form part of a group. The next election is due in 2027.

Premises
The council's main administrative offices are at Westfields on Middlewich Road in Sandbach. The building was opened in 2008 as the headquarters of the former Congleton Borough Council, one of Cheshire East's predecessors. Council and committee meetings are held at various venues across the borough, including Crewe Municipal Buildings, Macclesfield Town Hall, and Sandbach Town Hall.

In 2023 the council decided to close Westfields and make its existing building at Delamere House in Crewe the headquarters instead. Delamere House was completed in 1974 as a joint facility for both the old Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council and Cheshire County Council, and has served as Cheshire East Council's local offices in Crewe since the reorganisation in 2009. The closure of Westfields has yet to take place as at May 2024.

Elections
Since the last boundary changes in 2011 the council has comprised 82 councillors representing 52 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.