Bolton Council, or Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government services in the borough. The council has been a member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority since 2011.

The council has been under no overall control since 2019, and has been led by a Labour minority administration since 2023. It is based at Bolton Town Hall.

History

The town of Bolton had been incorporated as a municipal borough in 1838, governed by a body formally called the 'Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Bolton', generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council. When elected County Councils were established in 1889, Bolton was considered large enough for its existing council to provide county-level services, and so it was made a county borough, independent from the new Lancashire County Council, whilst remaining part of the geographical county of Lancashire.

The larger Metropolitan Borough of Bolton and its council were created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as one of ten metropolitan districts within the new metropolitan county of Greater Manchester. The first election was held in 1973. For its first year the Council acted as a shadow authority alongside the area's eight outgoing authorities, being the borough councils of Bolton and Farnworth, and the urban district councils of Blackrod, Horwich, Kearsley, Little Lever, Westhoughton and Turton (the latter in respect of its more built up southern part only, the more rural northern part became the parish of North Turton in Blackburn district). The new metropolitan district and its council formally came into being on 1 April 1974, at which point the old districts and their councils were abolished.

The metropolitan district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Bolton's series of mayors dating back to 1838. The council styles itself Bolton Council rather than its full formal name of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council.

From 1974 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the Greater Manchester County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to Greater Manchester's ten borough councils, including Bolton, with some services provided through joint committees.

Since 2011 the council has been a member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which has been led by the directly elected Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. The combined authority provides strategic leadership and co-ordination for certain functions across Greater Manchester, notably regarding transport and town planning, but Bolton Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions.

Governance Bolton Council provides Metropolitan Borough services. Some strategic functions in the area are provided by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority; the leader of Bolton Council sits on the combined authority as Bolton's representative. Blackrod, Horwich and Westhoughton are civil parishes, each with a town council forming an additional tier of local government, the rest of the borough is unparished.

Political control Since the 2019 election, Bolton has been under no overall control. Following the 2023 election a Labour minority administration formed to run the council. The minority administration continued following the 2024 election, and the 2026 election.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms took effect has been as follows: (Put "Bolton" in search box to see specific results.) Party in controlYears 1974–1980 1980–2003 2003–2011 2011–2019 2019–present

Leadership The role of Mayor of Bolton is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been:

Councillor Party From To John Hanscomb 1 Apr 1974 May 1980 Bob Howarth May 1980 Jun 2004 Barbara Ronson Jun 2004 May 2006 Cliff Morris 24 May 2006 31 Dec 2017 Linda Thomas 5 Feb 2018 May 2019 David Greenhalgh 22 May 2019 29 Jul 2021 Martyn Cox 25 Aug 202116 May 2023 Nick Peel 16 May 2023May 2026 Akhtar Zaman 20 May 2026

Composition Following the 2026 election and subsequent changes to July 2026 the composition of the council was:

Two of the independent councillors form the "Communities First" group. The next election is due in May 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023, the council has comprised 60 councillors representing 20 Wards, with each Ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four-year term of office.

Wards and Councillors There are 20 wards, each represented by three councillors.

Ward Councillor Party Date first elected Term of office Astley Bridge Hilary Fairclough Toby Hewitt Ryan Bailey Bradshaw James Moller Jackie Schofield Les Webb Breightmet Sean Fielding Robert Morrisey Mike Tucker Bromley Cross Samantha Jayne Connor Nadim Muslim Charlotte Cadden Farnworth North Hamid Kurram Susan Haworth Nadeem Ayub Farnworth South Maureen Flitcroft Paula Connor-Bennett Julie Pattison Great Lever Mohammed Ayub Karen Hon Mohammed Iqbal Halliwell Rabiya Jiva Hanif Alli Baggy Khan Heaton, Lostock and Chew Moor Martyn Cox Andrew Morgan Anne Galloway Horwich North Ryan Bamforth / Communities First Victoria Rigby Andrea Finney Horwich South and Blackrod David Grant Samantha Williamson / Communities First Peter Wright Hulton Shafaqat Shaikh Fazeelah Khan Derek Bullock Kearsley Debbie Newall Sylvia Crossley Roger Pedley Little Lever and Darcy Lever Andrea Taylor-Burke Liam Barnard Derek Wunderley Queens Park and Central Akhtar Zaman Linda Thomas Zan Arif Rumworth Abdul Atcha Ayyub Patel / Communities First Zan Arif Smithills Roger Hayes Garry Veevers Susan Priest Tonge with The Haulgh Martin Donaghy Emily Mort Trevor Jones Westhoughton North and Hunger Hill Arthur Price Deirdre McGeown David Lewis Westhoughton South David Chadwick John McHugh Glen Clarke

Premises The council is based at Bolton Town Hall on Victoria Square in the centre of Bolton. The building was completed in 1873 for the old Bolton Borough Council.

References