Gloucester City Council

Gloucester City Council is the local authority for the city of Gloucester, in Gloucestershire, England. Gloucester has had a council since medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 Gloucester has been a non-metropolitan district with city status.

The council has been under no overall control since the 2024 election, being led by a Liberal Democrat minority administration. It meets at North Warehouse at Gloucester Docks and has its main offices within the Eastgate Shopping Centre.

History
Gloucester was an ancient borough. In 1483 it was made a county corporate with its own magistrates, making it administratively separate from the surrounding county of Gloucestershire. Gloucester gained city status on the creation of the Diocese of Gloucester in 1541.

The city was reformed in 1836 to become a municipal borough, governed by a body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and citizens of the city of Gloucester", but generally known as the corporation or city council. When elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888 Gloucester was considered large enough to run its own county-level services and so it was made a county borough, independent from Gloucestershire County Council.

The city was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The city kept the same boundaries but became a lower-tier district authority, with Gloucestershire County Council providing county-level services to the city for the first time. The city's boundaries were enlarged in 1991, notably gaining the parish of Quedgeley from Stroud District.

Governance
Gloucester City Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Gloucestershire County Council. The Quedgeley area of the city is also a civil parish with a town council, which forms a third tier of local government. The rest of the city, roughly corresponding to the pre-1974 county borough, is an unparished area.

Political control
The council has been under no overall control since 2024, being led by a Liberal Democrat minority administration.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:

Leadership
The role of Mayor of Gloucester is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1995 have been:

Composition
Following the 2024 election the composition of the council was:

The four independent councillors sit together as the "Community Independent Group". The next election is due in 2028.

Premises
The council meets at North Warehouse at Gloucester Docks. Its main offices are at the Eastgate Shopping Centre in the city centre, and the main public reception is at The Gateway at 92-96 Westgate Street.

Between 1892 and 1986 the council was based at the Guildhall at 23 Eastgate Street. In 1985 the council purchased North Warehouse at Gloucester Docks, which had been built in 1826. North Warehouse was reconfigured internally to provide a civic suite and council chamber, as well as office space for the council. The council vacated Guildhall and moved to North Warehouse in 1986. Around the same time, the council also leased from the Canal & River Trust three nearby warehouses called Herbert Warehouse, Kimberley Warehouse and Philpotts Warehouse, which had all been built in 1846. The former Kimberley and Philpotts warehouses were incorporated into Herbert Warehouse via glazed linking sections being added between them, with a public house and retail uses on the ground floor and additional council offices on the upper floors. The Herbert Warehouse building was completed in 1988.

In 2019 the council vacated Herbert Warehouse, instead leasing office space for its staff within Shire Hall and also acquiring a former shop at 92–96 Westgate Street to be the council's main public reception, called "The Gateway". The council's meeting place remains the council chamber and civic suite in North Warehouse. The council's offices moved from Shire Hall to the Eastgate Shopping Centre in 2022.

Elections
Since the last boundary changes in 2016 the council has comprised 39 councillors representing 18 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.