Bedford Borough Council is the local authority of the

Borough of Bedford The Borough of Bedford is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is based in Bedford, its namesake and principal settlement, which is the county town of Bedfordshire. The bor ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

, England. It is 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 ...

, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The executive of the council is the

directly elected mayor of Bedford The Mayor of Bedford is a directly elected mayor responsible for the executive function, and ceremonial duty of Bedford Borough Council in Bedfordshire. The incumbent is Dave Hodgson of the Liberal Democrats who succeeded Frank Branston in 2 ...

. It is a member of the

East of England Local Government Association The East of England Local Government Association (EELGA) is an association of the 52 local authorities in the East of England. It is a regional grouping of the Local Government Association and the regional employers organisation. It was establishe ...

. The council was founded in 1974 as Bedford District Council, being renamed North Bedfordshire Borough Council in 1975. In 1992 it changed its name again to become Bedford Borough Council. Until 2009 it was a lower-tier district council, with county-level services provided by

Bedfordshire County Council Bedfordshire County Council was the county council of the non-metropolitan county of Bedfordshire in England. It was established on 24 January 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 2009. The county council was based in Bedford. In 1997 Luton Borough ...

. On 1 April 2009, the

ceased to exist, at which point Bedford Borough Council became a unitary authority.

Political control

Since the first election to the council in 1973 (as a shadow authority prior to coming into its powers in 1974), political control of the council has been held by the following parties:

Arms

Bedford has been granted two distinct coats of arms. The first is ''per pale Argent and Gules a fess Azure'', and the second ''Argent an eagle displayed wings inverted and head turned towards the sinister Sable ducally crowned and surmounted by a castle of three tiers Or''.

References

External links

Bedford Borough Council
{{Authority control Unitary authority councils of England Local education authorities in England Local authorities in Bedfordshire Mayor and cabinet executives Billing authorities in England Borough of Bedford