Denbighshire County Council is the

unitary Unitary may refer to: Mathematics * Unitary divisor * Unitary element * Unitary group * Unitary matrix * Unitary morphism * Unitary operator * Unitary transformation * Unitary representation * Unitarity (physics) * ''E''-unitary inverse semigrou ...

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

for the county of

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

, one of the

principal areas {{Short description, Formal legal term for a county in England and Wales In England and Wales local government legislation, a principal area is one of the sub-national areas established for control by a principal council. They include most of the ar ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. The council is based at County Hall in Ruthin. Elections take place every five years. The last election was on 5 May 2022. The council is under no overall control, being administered by a multi-party cabinet led by Jason McLellan of the Labour Party.

History

Denbighshire County Council was first created in 1889 under the

Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

, which established elected county councils to take over the administrative functions of the

quarter sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...

. That county council and the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

were abolished in 1974, when the area merged with neighbouring

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

to become the new county of

Clwyd Clwyd () is a preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English ceremonial counties of Cheshire to th ...

, except for six parishes on the western edge of Denbighshire in the

Conwy valley , name_etymology = , image = Boats in River Conwy.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = Boats in the river estuary at Conwy , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , push ...

, which went instead to the Aberconwy district of

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

. The remainder of the former administrative county of Denbighshire was split between three of the six

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of Clwyd:

Colwyn Colwyn was a local government district with borough status from 1974 to 1996, being one of six districts in the county of Clwyd, north-east Wales. History The borough was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It cover ...

Glyndŵr Glyndŵr was one of six local government districts in the county of Clwyd in Wales from 1974 to 1996. History The district was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It covered the area of six former districts and two p ...

, and

Wrexham Maelor Wrexham Maelor ( cy, Wrecsam Maelor) was a local government district with borough status, being one of six districts in the county of Clwyd, north-east Wales, from 1974 to 1996. History The borough was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local G ...

. Under the

Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (c. 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to create the current local government structure in Wales of 22 unitary authority areas, referred to as ...

Clwyd County Council Clwyd County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Clwyd) was the county council of the non-metropolitan county of Clwyd in north-east Wales, from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. It came into its powers on 1 April 1974. The county council was ba ...

and the county's constituent districts were abolished, being replaced by

, whose councils perform the functions which had previously been divided between the county and district councils. A new principal area and county of Denbighshire was created with effect from 1 April 1996, covering most of Glyndŵr, two

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place (geography), place, Norm (social), norms, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Identity (social science), identity. Communiti ...

from Colwyn, and all of

Rhuddlan Rhuddlan () is a town, community, and electoral ward in the county of Denbighshire, Wales, in the historic county of Flintshire. Its associated urban zone is mainly on the right bank of the Clwyd; it is directly south of seafront town Rhyl. I ...

(the latter having been created in 1974 from areas in Flintshire rather than Denbighshire). The new Denbighshire County Council created in 1996 therefore covers a different area to the pre-1974 county.

Political control

The first election to the new council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1996 has been as follows: The last election was 5 May 2022 when the number of councillors elected increased from 47 to 48.

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2000 have been: Since May 2022 the council has been led by Jason McLellan, of Labour. The cabinet is formed of six Labour and three Plaid Cymru councillors. He was preceded by Hugh Evans, a farmer from

Llanelidan Llanelidan is a small village and community (Wales), community in the county of Denbighshire in north-east Wales. The community also includes the hamlet of Rhyd-y-Meudwy. The church, village hall and pub all lie within 200 yards of each other ...

, who led the council for over 14 years, who was first elected as leader of the council on 6 November 2007. This followed a vote of no confidence in the previous leader, Rhiannon Hughes, two weeks beforehand. Prior to Hughes, Plaid Cymru councillor Eryl Williams was leader, from 2002 until 2004. From April 2022 the council leader was paid a salary of £53,550.

Current composition

As of 5 May 2022: One seat (Alyn Valley, Con) was elected unopposed at the 2022 election.

Elections

Summary of the council composition after council elections, click on the year for full details of each election. Party with the most elected councillors in bold. Coalition agreements in notes column.

Premises

The council is based at County Hall in Ruthin. The building was originally built in 1909 for the old Denbighshire County Council. Between 1974 and 1996 the building served as the headquarters of Glyndŵr District Council. Most of the building was demolished in 2002 and a modern building built behind the retained frontage of the 1909 original, with the rebuilt headquarters being completed in 2004. The council also has offices at Russell House on Churton Road in Rhyl, which had been built in 1991 for the former Rhuddlan Borough Council.

Electoral divisions

The county borough is divided into 29

electoral wards The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ward is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil parishes and borough and distri ...

returning 48 councillors. Few

in Denbighshire are coterminous with electoral wards. The following table lists council wards, communities and associated geographical areas based on the 2017 election: * = Communities which elect a

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

^c = Ward coterminous with community of the same name

Democratic Alliance of Wales

The Democratic Alliance of Wales (DAW) was a political party partly comprising former Labour Party members, The DAW stood 14 candidates in the 1999 Denbighshire Council election, with five winning seats in

Prestatyn Prestatyn is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085, History Prehistory There is evidence that the ...

. The three successful DAW candidates in Prestatyn North—Michael German, Isobel German and Jeff Hughes—had been elected as Labour councillors at the 1995 elections. One of the DAW founders, Gwynn Clague, was elected as a county councillor for Prestatyn South West, and became mayor of Prestatyn Town Council. He was particularly known for his criticisms of the county council's performance, as well as the town council's finances. By October 2003, he had left DAW and was unaligned. At the 2004 all-council election, the three DAW councillors in the Prestatyn North ward stood for re-election, retaining their seats. Following the rejection of Denbighshire council leader Rhiannon Hughes in October 2007, DAW group leader Mike German was touted as a possible successor. At the 2008 all-council election, the three remaining DAW councillors stood as Independents, losing to the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

References

External links

Denbighshire County Council
(official site) {{Authority control Government of Denbighshire County councils of Wales Local authorities of Wales