West Berkshire Council is the local authority of West Berkshire in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. West Berkshire is divided into 30 wards, electing 52 councillors. The council was created by the Local Government Act 1972 as the Newbury District Council and replaced five local authorities: Bradfield Rural District Council, Hungerford Rural District Council, Newbury Borough Council, Newbury Rural District Council and Wantage Rural District Council. On 1 April 1998 it was renamed West Berkshire Council and since then has been a unitary authority, assuming the powers and functions of

Berkshire County Council The Council of the Royal County of Berkshire, also known as the Berkshire County Council, was the top-tier local government administrative body for Berkshire from 1889 to 1998. The local authority had responsibilities for education, social servi ...

within the district. In the 2015 election the Conservatives won 48 out of 52 seats. In 2019, they won 24 out of 43 seats, losing half of their councillors.

History

The council was formed by the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

as the Newbury District Council. It replaced

Bradfield Rural District Council Bradfield was a rural district in Berkshire, England, from 1894 to 1974. It was created under the Local Government Act 1894 from the Bradfield rural sanitary district, except the three parishes in Oxfordshire which formed the Goring Rural D ...

Hungerford Rural District Council Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside th ...

Newbury Borough Council Newbury may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Newbury, Berkshire, a town * Newbury (district), Berkshire, a district formed in 1974 * Newbury (UK Parliament constituency) * Newbury, Kent, a hamlet * Newbury, Somerset, a hamlet United States * ...

, Newbury Rural District Council and

Wantage Rural District Council Wantage was a rural district of Berkshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It was created in 1894 as a successor to the Wantage rural sanitary district. It was named after Wantage, which formed a separate urban district entirely surrounded by th ...

. The current local authority was first elected in 1973, a year before formally coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the District of Newbury on 1 April 1974. It was envisaged through the Local Government Act 1972 that Newbury as a non-metropolitan district council would share power with Berkshire County Council. This arrangement lasted until 1998 when Berkshire County Council was abolished and the renamed Newbury District Council, now West Berkshire Council, gained responsibility for services that had been provided by the county council.

Politics

West Berkshire Council is elected every four years, with, currently, 43 councillors being elected at each election. From the first election to the unitary authority in 1997 to the

2003 election The following elections occurred in the year 2003. Africa * 2003 Beninese parliamentary election * 2003 Djiboutian parliamentary election * 2003 Guinean presidential election * 2003 Mauritanian presidential election * 2003 Nigerian parliamentary ...

the Liberal Democrats had a majority and they then kept control with the chairman's casting vote until 2005. In 2005 the Conservative party gained a majority, which they have held since. In the

2019 United Kingdom local elections Local elections in parts of the United Kingdom were held on Thursday 2 May 2019, with 248 English local councils, six directly elected mayors in England, and all 11 local councils in Northern Ireland being contested. A total of 8,886 council ...

the Conservatives lost councillors, though retaining their majority, whilst the Liberal Democrats made significant gains and the Green Party also made gains.

Composition

The council composition is:

Executive

References

{{Authority control Leader and cabinet executives Unitary authority councils of England West Berkshire District Local education authorities in England Local authorities in Berkshire Billing authorities in England