Richmondshire District Council is the administration body covering

Richmondshire {{Infobox settlement , name = Richmondshire District , type = District , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_blank_emblem= Richmondshire arms.png , blank_emblem_type = Coat ...

, a large area of the northern

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...

including

Swaledale Swaledale is one of the northernmost dales (valleys) in Yorkshire Dales National Park, located in northern England. It is the dale of the River Swale on the east side of the Pennines in North Yorkshire. Geographical overview Swaledale runs ...

and Arkengarthdale,

Wensleydale Wensleydale is the dale or upper valley of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines, one of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of only a few Yorkshire Dales not currently named after its principal river, but th ...

and Coverdale, with Scots' Dyke and

Scotch Corner Scotch Corner is a junction of the A1(M) and A66 trunk roads near Richmond in North Yorkshire, England. It has been described as "the modern gateway to Cumbria, the North East and Scotland", and is a primary destination signed from as far a ...

at its centre. The current district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It was a merger of the

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

of Richmond with the Aysgarth Rural District, Leyburn Rural District, Reeth Rural District and Richmond Rural District along with part of the Croft Rural District, all in the North Riding of Yorkshire.

Political Control

2003 to 2005

The Council was controlled by independent councillors until May 2003, when elections returned a council with no overall control (Conservative 11; Independent 9; Liberal Democrats 8; Richmondshire Independent Group 5; Social Democratic Party 1). Conservative councillor John Blackie was elected as leader of the Council.

2005 to 2019

In December 2005, Blackie was replaced by the leader of the Independent Coalition for Richmondshire, Bill Glover, following the resignation of several councillors from the Conservative group and the merger of the rival independent groups. From 2009 to 2011,

Fleur Butler Fleur Josephine Butler (born 24 April 1967) is an English Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and novelist. A former member of the Congress of the Council of Europe and leader of Richmondshire District Council, she is president of the ...

, a Conservative, was Leader. As of January 2019, the 34 member council was again controlled by a Conservative administration. The Chairman was Bill Glover and the Vice Chairman was Stuart Parsons.

May 2019

Following the local elections in May 2019 a new Independent-Liberal Democrat-Green coalition took power, under the umbrella name 'Richmond Together'. This followed all up elections on new boundaries, which saw the Liberal Democrats gain two seats compared to their previous count of one seat and the Greens gain their first seat on Richmondshire Council. Together with nine of the Independent councillors, this gave the 'Richmond Together' coalition a working majority over the Conservatives and one stand-alone Independent in opposition.

May 2020

The Green Party councillor, Kevin Foster, has since left the 'Richmond Together' alliance and formed a new group of two, alongside the stand-alone Independent, in opposition. Meanwhile, the Conservative councillor Pat Middlemiss, who represents Scotton, has left the Conservative opposition group and joined 'Richmondshire Together' administration as an Independent. Overall, this increases the Independents within the 'Richmond Together' alliance to 10 seats, decreases the Conservatives to 9 seats and leaves the administration's working majority unchanged.

Abolition

In July 2021, the

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local government i ...

announced that in April 2023, the non-metropolitan county will be reorganised into a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

. Richmondshire District Council will be abolished and its functions transferred to a new single authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire.

References

{{Reflist Richmondshire Non-metropolitan district councils of England Local authorities in North Yorkshire