Central Bedfordshire Council

Central Bedfordshire Council is the local authority for Central Bedfordshire, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. It has been under no overall control since 2023, being run by an independent-led administration. The council is based at Chicksands.

Central Bedfordshire Council
Type
Type	Unitary authority
History
Founded	1 April 2009
Preceded by	Bedfordshire County Council District councils Mid Bedfordshire District Council South Bedfordshire District Council
Leadership
Chair	Gareth Mackey, Independent since 25 May 2023[1]
Leader	Adam Zerny, Independent since 25 May 2023
Chief Executive	Marcel Coiffait since November 2020[2]
Structure
Seats	63 councillors
Political groups	Administration (16)   Independent Alliance (16) Other parties (47)   Conservative Party (20)   Central Bedfordshire Community Network (13)   Independents (12)   Green (1)   Liberal Democrats (8)   Labour Party (5)   Independent (1)
Joint committees	East of England Local Government Association
Elections
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Priory House, Monks Walk, Chicksands, Shefford, SG17 5TQ
Website
www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

History

Local government in Bedfordshire was reorganised with effect from 1 April 2009. The borough of Luton had already been made a unitary authority independent from the county council in 1997. The changes in 2009 divided the rest of the county into two unitary authorities: Bedford and Central Bedfordshire. The new Central Bedfordshire covered the combined area of the two former districts of Mid Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire. Central Bedfordshire Council also took over the functions of the abolished Bedfordshire County Council within the area. Central Bedfordshire is legally both a non-metropolitan district and a non-metropolitan county, but there is no separate county council; instead the district council performs both district and county functions, making it a unitary authority.^[3][4] Central Bedfordshire remains part of the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire for the purposes of lieutenancy.^[5]

Political control

The council went under no overall control at the 2023 election, having previously had a Conservative majority. An independent-led administration - the first in a unitary authority in English local government history - subsequently formed, with independent councillor Adam Zerny being appointed leader of the council.^[6] The group of independent councillors split in July 2024 into the 'Independent Alliance' group and the 'Independent Network' group (later renamed the 'Central Bedfordshire Community Network').^[7][8]

Political control of the council since its creation in 2009 has been as follows:^[9]

Party in control		Years
	Conservative	2009–2023
	No overall control	2023–present

Leadership

The first leader of the council was Tricia Turner, who had been the last leader of Mid Bedfordshire District Council.^[10] The leaders of the council since 2009 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Tricia Turner[11][12]		Conservative	18 Jun 2009	May 2011
James Jamieson[13][14]		Conservative	19 May 2011	Jan 2021
Richard Wenham[15][16]		Conservative	14 Jan 2021	May 2023
Adam Zerny[6]		Independent	25 May 2023

Composition

Following the 2023 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to March 2025, the composition of the council was:^[17][18][19]

Party		Councillors
	Independent	29
	Conservative	20
	Liberal Democrats	9
	Labour	5
	Green	1
Total:		63

Of the independent councillors, 16 form the 'Independent Alliance', 12 form the 'Central Bedfordshire Community Network' which also includes the Green councillor, and the other independent councillor is not aligned to any group.^[19] The leader of the council and all the council's executive are members of the Independent Alliance.^[20] The next election is due in 2027.^[19]

Premises

The council inherited offices at Priory House (built 2006) in Chicksands, just outside the town of Shefford, from Mid Bedfordshire District Council, and the South Bedfordshire District Council offices (built 1989) in Dunstable. Priory House became the new council's headquarters. The South Bedfordshire offices were renamed Watling House and served as additional offices for the council until being closed in 2022.^[21]

Elections

Main article: Central Bedfordshire Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023, the council comprises 63 councillors, elected from 31 wards. Elections are held every four years.^[22]