Dorset Council is a unitary

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

covering most of the ceremonial county of

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

. It was created on 1 April 2019 to administer most of the area formerly administered by

Dorset County Council Dorset County Council (DCC) was the county council for the county of Dorset in England. It provided the upper tier of local government, below which were district councils, and town and parish councils. The county council had 46 elected council ...

, which was previously subdivided into the districts of

Weymouth and Portland Weymouth and Portland was a local government district and borough in Dorset, England. It consisted of the resort of Weymouth and the Isle of Portland, and includes the areas of Wyke Regis, Preston, Melcombe Regis, Upwey, Broadwey, Southill, ...

West Dorset West Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. Its council was based in Dorchester. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, and was a merger of the boroughs of Bridport, Dorchester and ...

North Dorset North Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. It was largely rural, but included the towns of Blandford Forum, Gillingham, Shaftesbury, Stalbridge and Sturminster Newton. Much of North Dorset was in the River Stour vall ...

, Purbeck, and

East Dorset East Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. Its council met in Wimborne Minster between 2016 and 2019. The district (as Wimborne) was formed on 1 April 1974 by merging Wimborne Minster Urban District with Wimborne and Cran ...

, as well as

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, which is now part of

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It was created on 1 April 2019 by the merger of the areas that wer ...

History

Statutory Instruments for local government reorganisation in the ceremonial county of Dorset were made in May 2018. Under the plans, dubbed "Future Dorset", all existing councils within the county were to be abolished and replaced by two new unitary authorities. One was formed from the unitary authorities of

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

and

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

which merged with the non-metropolitan district of

to create a unitary authority known as

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council is a unitary local authority for the district of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in England that came into being on 1 April 2019. It was created from the areas that were previously administered by ...

. The other, Dorset Council, was created from most of the area administered by

(apart from Christchurch) and the non-metropolitan districts of

, Purbeck and

Shadow authority

Statutory instruments for the creation of the new authority were made on behalf of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on 25 May 2018, and a shadow authority was formed the following day. The ''Shadow Dorset Council'' consisted of all elected councillors from Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, West Dorset District Council, North Dorset District Council, East Dorset District Council, Purbeck District Council and all councillors from Dorset County Council with the exception of the five that were elected from divisions within Christchurch. The first meeting of the shadow authority was held on Thursday 7 June 2018 where Hilary Cox was elected to be Chair of the shadow authority and Peter Shoreland was elected as Vice-Chair. The

Local Government Boundary Commission for England The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) is a parliamentary body established by statute to conduct boundary, electoral and structural reviews of local government areas in England. The LGBCE is independent of government and pol ...

recommended that the new council should have eighty-two councillors representing a mix of single-member, two-member and three-member wards.

Elected council

The inaugural elections for Dorset Council were held on Thursday 2 May 2019, alongside other local elections. Whilst the shadow authority had 172 seats, the new council had 82 seats, with revised ward boundaries. The Conservatives were the largest party, with 43 seats (out of 42 required for a majority), but with a reduced majority. The Liberal Democrats (29), Greens (4), Independents (4) and Labour (2) all won seats as well. The Independents subsequently sat as the Alliance for Local Living Group, and in October 2019 Rowell and Wyke Councillor left the Labour party to sit as an independent, leaving Labour with just one seat. Spencer Flower, a

Conservative 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 i ...

was appointed the

leader of the council In England, local authorities are required to adopt one of three types of executive arrangements, having either an "elected mayor and cabinet", a "leader and cabinet", or a "committee system". The type of arrangement used determines how decisions ...

at the first meeting of the council after its first elections in 2019. He had been the last leader of the former East Dorset District Council.

References

External links

* {{coord missing, Dorset Unitary authority councils of England Local authorities in Dorset

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

Local education authorities in England

History

Shadow authority

Elected council

See also

References

External links