Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council

Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Lord True, Conservative[1]
Leader of the Opposition
Stephen Knight, Liberal Democrat[2]
Structure
Seats 54 councillors
38 / 54
15 / 54
1 / 54
Elections
Plurality-at-large
Last election
22 May 2014
Next election
2018
Meeting place
York House, Twickenham
Website
www.richmond.gov.uk

Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London, the United Kingdom capital.

History

A map showing the wards of Richmond upon Thames since 2002

In 1965, local government in London was reorganised under the London Government Act 1963. The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, with new council offices at York House, Twickenham, was formed with the merger of the Municipal Borough of Twickenham from Middlesex with the Municipal Borough of Richmond and the Municipal Borough of Barnes from Surrey. The council was elected a year before coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on 1 April 1965.

The London Government Act envisaged that the councils of the new London boroughs would share power with the Greater London Council. The Greater London Council took responsibility for "wide area" services such as fire, ambulance, flood prevention, and refuse disposal and the borough councils were given responsibility for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. This arrangement lasted until 1986 when borough councils gained responsibility for most local governmental services including highways, waste disposal and almost all urban planning decisions.

Since 2000 the Greater London Authority took some responsibility for highways and planning control from the London boroughs, otherwise the Council remains a most purposes authority, that is has more powers and functions than the Greater London Authority, for more information see English local government system.

As an outer London borough council, Richmond upon Thames has been an education authority since 1965.

Political composition

Richmond upon Thames was controlled by the Conservatives from its inception to 1983 when the Liberals and SDP won control in a by-election. The Council was then led by David Williams until he stood down in favour of Serge Lourie in 2001. Between 2002 and 2006 the council was controlled by the Conservatives under Greater London Assembly member Tony Arbour. Between 2006 and 2010 the council reverted to the Liberal Democrats under the Leadership of Serge Lourie. Since 2010 it has been run by Conservative councillors under Lord True. Of the 54 council seats, 38 are Conservative, 15 are Liberal Democrat and 1 is Labour.[3] [4][5] Elections for all Council seats are held every four years; the next election will be in 2018.

See also

References


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