Manchester City Council elections

Summary

Manchester City Council elections are generally held three years out of every four, with a third of the council being elected each time. Manchester City Council is the local authority for the metropolitan borough of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Since the last boundary changes in 2018, 96 councillors have been elected from 32 wards.[1]

Seats held by party after each election to Manchester City Council, 1973–2023

Political control edit

From 1889 to 1974 Manchester was a county borough, independent of any county council.[2] Under the Local Government Act 1972 it had its territory slightly enlarged, gaining the parish of Ringway from Cheshire, whilst having its functions and responsibilities reformed, becoming a metropolitan borough, with Greater Manchester County Council providing county-level services. The first election to the reconstituted city council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its revised powers on 1 April 1974. Greater Manchester County Council was abolished in 1986 and Manchester became a unitary authority. The Labour Party has held a majority of the seats on the city council since the reforms of 1974:[3]

County Borough

Party Period
No overall control 1919–1921
Conservative 1921–1924
No overall control 1924–1932
Conservative 1932–1934
No overall control 1934–1946
Labour 1946–1947
No overall control 1947–1949
Conservative 1949–1952
No overall control 1952–1953
Labour 1953–1967
Conservative 1967–1971
Labour 1971–1974

Metropolitan Borough

Party Period
Labour 1974–present

Leadership edit

The leaders of the council since 1945 have been:[4]

Councillor Party From To
Tom Nally Labour 1945 1949
William Jackson Conservative 1949 1953
Tom Nally Labour 1953 1956
Robert Thomas Labour 1956 1962
Maurice Pariser Labour 1962 1965
Robert Thomas Labour 1965 1967
Robert Rodgers Conservative 1967 1970
Arnold Fieldhouse Conservative 1970 1971
Robert Thomas Labour 1971 1974
Norman Morris[5] Labour 1974 1982
Bill Egerton Labour 1982 1984
Graham Stringer Labour 1984 1996
Richard Leese Labour 1996 1 Dec 2021
Bev Craig Labour 1 Dec 2021

Council elections edit

Summary of the council composition after council elections, click on the year for full details of each election. Boundary changes took place for the 2004 election which reduced the number of seats by 3, leading to the whole council being elected in that year.

 
Popular vote share, 1973–2012
 
Popular vote figures, 1973–2012


Year Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats Greens Independent
1973 59 40 0 0 0
1975 54 45 0 0 0
1976 54 45 0 0 0
1978 53 46 0 0 0
1979 63 33 3 0 0
1980 72 23 4 0 0
1982 69 26 4 0 0
1983 72 22 5 0 0
1984 79 14 6 0 0
1986 86 7 6 0 0
1987 77 13 9 0 0
1988 78 12 9 0 0
1990 78 12 9 0 0
1991 85 5 9 0 0
1992 80 5 12 0 2
1994 79 4 15 0 1
1995 83 2 14 0 0
1996 84 0 15 0 0
1998 84 0 15 0 0
1999 80 0 19 0 0
2000 78 0 21 0 0
2002 76 0 22 0 1
2003 71 0 27 1 0
2004 57 0 38 1 0
2006 61 0 34 1 0
2007 60 0 35 1 0
2008 61 1 34 0 0
2010 62 1 33 0 0
2011 75 0 20 0 1
2012 86 0 9 0 1
2014 95 0 0 0 1
2015 96 0 0 0 0
2016 95 0 1 0 0
2018 94 0 2 0 0
2019 93 0 3 0 0
2021 94 0 1 1 0
2022 92 0 2 2 0
2023 88 0 4 4 0

Borough result maps edit

By-election results edit

By-election Date Incumbent party Winning party
Beswick by-election 27 June 1974 Labour Labour
Blackley by-election Labour Labour
Labour Labour
Harpurhey by-election 25 July 1974 Labour Labour
Withington by-election 16 November 1978 Conservative Liberal
Gorton South by-election 25 September 1980 Labour Labour
Blackley by-election 2 April 1981 Conservative Labour
Old Moat by-election 9 July 1981 Conservative Conservative
Moston by-election 27 July 1995 Labour Labour
Hulme by-election 2 May 1997 Labour Labour
Old Moat by-election Labour Labour
Cheetham by-election 24 September 1998 Labour Liberal Democrats
Benchill by-election 10 June 1999 Labour Labour
Central by-election 26 August 1999 Labour Labour
Baguley by-election 25 January 2001 Labour Labour
Beswick and Clayton by-election 10 June 2001 Labour Labour
Sharston by-election Labour Labour
Whalley Range by-election Labour Labour
Benchill by-election 13 June 2002 Labour Labour
Gorton South by-election 19 October 2006 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats
Charlestown by-election 14 June 2007 Labour Labour
Didsbury West by-election 29 January 2009 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats
Moston by-election 29 January 2009 Labour Labour
Hulme by-election 4 November 2010 Labour Labour
Baguley by-election 20 January 2011 Labour Labour
Ardwick by-election 15 November 2012 Labour Labour
Ancoats and Clayton by-election 10 October 2013 Labour Labour
Ancoats and Clayton by-election 5 December 2013 Labour Labour
Higher Blackley by-election 18 February 2016 Labour Labour
Rusholme by-election 4 May 2017 Labour Labour
Fallowfield by-election 27 July 2017 Labour Labour
Clayton & Openshaw by-election 27 February 2020 Labour Independent
Chorlton by-election 18 November 2021 Labour Labour
Ancoats & Beswick by-election 3 February 2022 Labour Liberal Democrats
Brooklands by-election 26 July 2023 Labour Labour

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "The Manchester (Electoral Changes) Order 2017", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2017/1068, retrieved 2 September 2022
  2. ^ "Manchester Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Council minutes". Manchester City Council. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Now Britain awaits budget". Liverpool Echo. 15 May 1979. p. 1. Retrieved 2 September 2022. ...Norman Morris, who has just begun his sixth year as leader of the Labour controlled Manchester city council...

External links edit

  • Manchester City Council