Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
Logo
Type
Type	Metropolitan borough
Leadership
Leader	Sue Derbyshire, Liberal Democrats
Structure
Seats	63
Political groups	Governing Party (26)      Liberal Democrats (26) Opposition      Labour (21)      Conservative (13)      Heald Green Ratepayers (3)
Joint committees	Greater Manchester Combined Authority Greater Manchester Police and Crime Panel
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	7 May 2015
Next election	5 May 2016
Meeting place
Town Hall, Edward Street, Stockport
Website
http://www.stockport.gov.uk

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The council is currently in no overall control, as at the 2011 local elections the Liberal Democrats lost their majority. Currently, the Liberal Democrats have 26 seats, Labour has 21 and the Conservatives have 13. There are also 3 independent councilors that represent the Heald Green Ratepayers.

Parliamentary representation

Stockport is currently covered by four constituencies: Cheadle, Stockport, Hazel Grove and Denton and Reddish.

Wards & Councillors

There are 21 wards, each represented by three councillors.

Council Wards
1 Bramhall North
2 Bramhall South
3 Bredbury & Woodley
4 Bredbury Green & Romiley
5 Brinnington & Central
6 Cheadle & Gatley
7 Cheadle Hulme North
8 Cheadle Hulme South
9 Davenport & Cale Green
10 Edgeley & Cheadle Heath
11 Hazel Grove
12 Heald Green
13 Heatons North
14 Heatons South
15 Manor
16 Marple North
17 Marple South
18 Offerton
19 Reddish North
20 Reddish South
21 Stepping Hill

Ward	Councillor		Party	Term of office
Bramhall North		Alanna Vine	Conservative	2015-19
		Linda Holt	Conservative	2012-16
		Lisa Walker	Conservative	2014-18
Bramhall South		Mike Hurleston	Conservative	2015-19
		Brian Bagnall	Conservative	2012-16
		John McGahan	Conservative	2014-18
Bredbury and Woodley		Stuart Corris	Liberal Democrat	2015-19
		Christine Corris	Liberal Democrat	2012-16
		Chris Gordon	Liberal Democrat	2014-18
Bredbury Green and Romiley		Syd Lloyd	Conservative	2015-19
		Hazel Lees	Liberal Democrat	2012-16
		Mags Kirkham	Liberal Democrat	2014-18
Brinnington and Central		Chris Murphy	Labour	2015-19
		Andy Sorton	Labour	2012-16
		Maureen Rowles	Labour	2014-18
Cheadle and Gatley		Graham Greenhalgh	Liberal Democrat	2015-19
		Keith Holloway	Liberal Democrat	2012-16
		Iain Roberts	Liberal Democrat	2014-18
Cheadle Hulme North		Paul Porgess	Liberal Democrat	2015-19
		John Pantall	Liberal Democrat	2014–18
		June Somekh	Liberal Democrat	2012–16
Cheadle Hulme South		Suzanne Wyatt	Liberal Democrat	2015-19
		Lenny Grice	Liberal Democrat	2012-16
		Stuart Bodsworth	Liberal Democrat	2014-18
Davenport and Cale Green		Dickie Davies	Labour	2015-19
		Wendy Wild	Labour	2012-16
		Elise Wilson	Labour	2014-18
Edgeley and Cheadle Heath		Richard Coaton	Labour	2015-19
		Sheila Bailey	Labour	2012-16
		Philip Harding	Labour	2014-18
Hazel Grove		Julian Lewis-Booth	Conservative	2015-19
		Kevin Hogg	Liberal Democrat	2012-16
		Oliver Johnstone	Conservative	2014-18
Heald Green		Eileen Humphreys	Heald Green Ratepayer	2015-19
		Peter Burns	Heald Green Ratepayer	2012-16
		Adrian Nottingham	Heald Green Ratepayer	2014-18
Heatons North		Alexander Ganotis	Labour	2015-19
		David Sedgwick	Labour	2012-16
		John Taylor	Labour	2014-18
Heatons South		Dean Fitzpatrick	Labour	2015-19
		Colin Foster	Labour	2012-16
		Tom McGee	Labour	2014-18
Manor		Patrick McAuley	Liberal Democrat	2015-19
		Sue Derbyshire	Liberal Democrat	2012-16
		Daniel Hawthorne	Liberal Democrat	2014-18
Marple North		Annette Finnie	Conservative	2015-19
		Martin Candler	Liberal Democrat	2012-16
		Geoff Abell	Liberal Democrat	2014-18
Marple South		Kenny Blair	Conservative	2015-19
		Shan Alexander	Liberal Democrat	2012-16
		Sue Ingham	Liberal Democrat	2014-18
Offerton		Wendy Meikle	Liberal Democrat	2015-19
		Laura Booth	Liberal Democrat	2012-16
		Dave Goddard	Liberal Democrat	2014-18
Reddish North		Roy Driver	Labour	2015-19
		Kate Butler	Labour	2012-16
		David Wilson	Labour	2014-18
Reddish South		Walter Brett	Labour	2015-19
		Andrew Verdeille	Labour	2012-16
		Tom Grundy	Labour	2014-18
Stepping Hill		Paul Hadfield	Conservative	2015-19
		Wendy Orrell	Liberal Democrat	2012-16
		John Wright	Conservative	2014-18

Executive Councillors

The Executive Committee of the Council consists of eight Executive Councillors:

• Leader: Sue Derbyshire
• Deputy Leader: Iain Roberts (also Corporate, Customer and Consumer Services)
• Lifelong Learning and Achievement: Shan Alexander
• Communities and Sustainability: Martin Candler
• Adult Care Services: Keith Holloway
• Children and Young People: Wendy Meikle
• Health and Wellbeing: John Pantall
• Economic Development and Regeneration: Patrick McAuley

Structure

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (Stockport Council) uses an executive system. There are 10 executive councillors, including the leader of the council; each has a separate portfolio containing responsibilities for different services and areas of the council. There are also six scrutiny committees which scrutinize decisions made by the executive.

Politics

Stockport Council has 63 elected members, belonging to three different parties. The largest party, and the ruling party is the Liberal Democrat party, which has 29 of the 63 seats. In the council elections on Thursday 1 May 2008, in which one third of the seats were up for re-election, there were two main changes. In the Cheadle & Gatley ward, incumbent councillor Paul Carter of the Liberal Democrat party lost his seat to the Conservative candidate Mick Jones. Similarly in the Brinnington and Central Ward, Labour councillor Maureen Rowles lost her seat to the Liberal Democrat candidate Christian Walker. However, a short time after this election, he chose to serve as an Independent Councillor, then returned to the Liberal Democrats, then declared himself Independent again.

During 2009, which was supposed to be a "fallow year" (one without elections), there were three by-elections following the deaths of serving councillors. Subsequently, Labour Councillor Anne Graham joined the Liberal Democrat group, bringing them to 36 Councillors of 63.

On 2 February 2011, Councillors David White, Roy Driver and Anne Graham all resigned from the Liberal Democrat Group. All three cited unhappiness with the national party's involvement with a "Tory-led" government. They became Independent Left Councillors, forming the Independent Left Group on the Council, whilst awaiting the result of membership applications to the Labour Party and subsequently joined the Labour Group after the 2011 elections. Roy Driver was not selected for a seat in the May 2011 elections but may contest a seat for Labour in May 2012.

On 21 January 2012, Patrick McAuley, Labour Councillor for Manor since May 2011, announced on Twitter that he had resigned from the Labour Party but that would continue to serve as a councillor; he subsequently joined the Liberal Democrat group in December 2012.

In October and November 2014, Stockport Labour lost 3 seats with Brian Hendley, Paul Moss and Laura Booth all leaving the party. Hendley was deselected without his knowing, Moss resigned due to house building on Reddish Vale Country Park and Booth quit over allegations of a "culture of systematic bullying".

The 'All Out'

In the 2004 election, all councilors on the council were put up for election at the same time. This election was conducted exclusively by Postal voting. Each elector was given three votes, and asked to pick three candidates. The number of votes each candidate received then determined when they would next stand for election.

Elections were then scheduled for 2007, 2008, and 2010.

Non-mainstream parties

Heald Green Ratepayers are the only non-mainstream candidates to win seats.

External links

• http://www.stockport.gov.uk