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Liverpool City Council




Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside , England . It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Liberal Democrats and is led by Warren Bradley .


HISTORY



Domain


Liverpool has been a town since 1207 , when it was granted its first charter by King John . It has had a town council since before the 19th century, and was granted city status by Victoria .

In 1880 when Liverpool was granted city status Liverpool Borough Council was replaced by the City Council.

When local government was introduced in 1888 it was one of the cities to become a County Borough , and thus independent of Lancashire . This situation persisted until 1974 when due to urban expansion and the accretion of a large metropolitan area, the city was made a metropolitan district of the metropolitan county of Merseyside .

In 1895 Wavertree , Walton and parts of Toxteth and West Derby were incorporated into the city with Fazakerley 1904 followed in 1913 by Gateacre and Speke 1932 . The boundaries changed again in 1974 with local government reorganisation.

In 1986 the council of Merseyside was abolished and its functions devolved to its districts, but the county still legally exists. It should be noted therefore that Liverpool has never been a district council under Lancashire County Council .


Administration


In the late 1970s the City was run by the Liberal Party under Sir Trevor Jones . As part of their plans, a cost cutting exercise was drawn up, to reduce the councils costs by 25%. In 1979 the Conservative Party won a narrow victory in the General Election. Part of the Conservatives' plan was to impose a 25% cut on councils across the country. Liverpool City Council successfully negotiated an exception from this, on the grounds that they had already cut 25%.

During the 1980s, the Militant movement, most famously Derek Hatton , gained control of several Labour councils including Liverpool , and challenged the national government on several issues. The leadership of the Labour Party was drawn into the controversy, culminating with Neil Kinnock 's noted speech to Conference in 1985, denouncing Liverpool City Council without explicitly naming it. Hatton and Eric Heffer , local MP and councillor, staged a walk-out.

In the 1990s the city gained further notoriety for having the country's highest council tax and officially the worst services.

  • 1998 The Liberal Democrats win control of Liverpool City Council.

  • 2003 Liverpool win the UK nomination of European Capital of Culture for 2008.

  • 2005 In December Mike Storey resigns after eight years, he was replaced as leader by Warren Bradley.



WARDS 2004



POLITICAL MAKEUP


Elections are usually by thirds, in three of every four years. 2004 saw new boundaries and so all seats were contested.

The council has been under the Liberal Democrats ' control since 1998 . Prior to that it had alternated between Labour and No Overall Control since its reconstitution in 1974 .


SITES



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