51°54′00″N 0°12′11″W / 51.900°N 0.203°W / 51.900; -0.203

Stevenage Borough Council
Leadership
Myla Arceno,
Labour
since 24 May 2023[1]
Richard Henry,
Labour
since 1 January 2023[2]
Matt Partridge
since 25 July 2019[3]
Structure
Seats39[4]
Political groups
Administration (24)
  Labour (24)
Other parties (15)
  Conservative (9)
  Liberal Democrat (6)
Elections
First past the post
Last election
4 May 2023
Next election
2024
Meeting place

Daneshill House, Danestrete, Stevenage, SG1 1HN
Website
www.stevenage.gov.uk

Stevenage Borough Council is the local authority for the Stevenage non-metropolitan district of England, the United Kingdom. Stevenage is located in the north-east of Hertfordshire, in the East of England region.

The council consists of 39 elected members, representing thirteen electoral wards; each of the wards elects three councillors. Youth representatives from Stevenage Youth Council and the elected Stevenage Youth Mayor also attend Stevenage Borough Council meetings in a non-voting role.[5][6]

The Council is currently controlled by the Labour and Co-operative Group, who hold 24 of the 39 seats. Labour have controlled the council continuously since its creation as a non-metropolitan district in 1974. The Conservative Group hold 9 seats and the Liberal Democrat Group hold 6 seats. The Leader of the Labour and Co-operative Group and the Council is Councillor Richard Henry.[7]

History

Stevenage's first elected council was a local board established in 1873, prior to which the town had been administered by the parish vestry.[8] Such local boards were converted into urban district councils in 1894. The Local Government Act 1972 reconstituted Stevenage Urban District as a non-metropolitan district with effect from 1 April 1974.[9] The district was awarded borough status on the same date, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[10]

Political control

The first elections to the borough council as reformed under the Local Government Act 1972 were held in 1973, initially acting as a shadow authority until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. The Labour Party has held a majority of the seats on the council since 1974:[11]

Party in controlYears
Labour1974–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Stevenage, and is usually held by a different councillor each year. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been:[12]

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Brian Hall Labour19741975
Labour19751976
Brian Hall[13][14] Labour197623 May 2006
Sharon Taylor Labour23 May 200631 Dec 2022
Richard Henry Labour1 Jan 2023

Composition

Following the 2023 election the composition of the council is as follows:[15]

PartyCouncillors
Labour24
Conservative9
Liberal Democrats6
Total39

The next elections are due to be held in 2024.

Premises

The council is based at Daneshill House on Danestrete in the town centre. The building was built in 1961 for the Development Corporation which oversaw the development of Stevenage as a New Town between 1946 and 1980. The building was bought by the council in 1980 when the development corporation was wound up.[16]

Elections

Since the last ward boundary changes in 1999 the council has comprised 39 councillors, with the borough being divided into 13 wards each electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, electing one councillor from each ward each time. Elections to Hertfordshire County Council are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections.[17]

Wards

The wards are:[17]

Arms

Coat of arms of Stevenage Borough Council
Notes
Originally granted to Stevenage Urban District Council on 10 March 1958.
Crest
Out of a crown palisado Or a demi hart Proper its sinister fore leg resting upon a cogwheel Gold.
Escutcheon
Argent on a mount in base point Vert an oak tree eradicated Proper fructed Or transfixed with a sword in bend sinister point downward also Proper hilt and pommel also Or and over all a fess Gules charged with six mullets of six points Gold.
Motto
The Heart Of A Town Lies In Its People.[18]

References

  1. ↑ Day, Christopher (1 June 2023). "Stevenage: Myla Arceno confirmed as new mayor for 2023–24". The Comet. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  2. ↑ "Council minutes, 14 December 2022". Stevenage Borough Council. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  3. ↑ "New CEO for Stevenage". The UK Innovation Corridor. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  4. ↑ "Political Makeup".
  5. ↑ "Stevenage's first youth mayor calls for young people's ideas". BBC News. 28 May 2012.
  6. ↑ "Youth Council". Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  7. ↑ "Local Election Results - 2015". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  8. ↑ "No. 24022". The London Gazette. 3 October 1873. p. 4434.
  9. ↑ "Stevenage Urban District". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  10. ↑ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1974. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  11. ↑ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  12. ↑ "Council minutes". Stevenage Borough Council. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  13. ↑ "End of an era". The Comet. 25 May 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  14. ↑ "Mayors of Stevenage from 1974". Stevenage Borough Council. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  15. ↑ "Stevenage election result". BBC News. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  16. ↑ Cole, Emily; Harwood, Elain (2020). The New Town Centre, Stevenage, Hertfordshire: Architecture and Significance. Historic England. pp. 118, 150. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  17. 1 2 "The Borough of Stevenage (Electoral Changes) Order 1998", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1998/2557, retrieved 9 May 2023
  18. ↑ "East of England Region". Civic Heraldry of England. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
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