Leicester City Council

Leicester City Council is the local authority for the city of Leicester, in the ceremonial county of Leicestershire, England. Leicester has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1997 the council has been a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council; it is independent from Leicestershire County Council.

Leicester City Council
Coat of arms
Council logo
Type
Type	Unitary authority
Leadership
Lord Mayor	Bhupen Dave, Conservative since 16 May 2024[1]
City Mayor	Peter Soulsby, Labour since 9 May 2011
Chief operating officer	Alison Greenhill since 1 March 2021[2]
Structure
Seats	1 executive mayor 54 councillors[3]
Political groups	Administration (31)   Labour (31) Other parties (23)   Conservative (15)   Liberal Democrat (3)   Green Party (3)   Independent (2)
Length of term	Executive mayor elected every four years Whole council elected every four years
Elections
Voting system	Plurality-at-large
Voting system	First-past-the-post voting
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Town Hall, Town Hall Square, Leicester, LE1 9BG
Website
www.leicester.gov.uk

The council consists of 54 councillors, overseen by a directly elected mayor. The council also appoints a ceremonial Lord Mayor who chairs council meetings; the directly elected mayor is termed the City Mayor to distinguish the post from the Lord Mayor. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2007, and the City Mayor has been Sir Peter Soulsby since 2011.

The council meets at Leicester Town Hall and has its main offices at City Hall on Charles Street.

History

The council traces its roots to the Corporation of Leicester, and before then to the Merchant Gild and the Portmanmoot. The Portmanmoot consisted of 24 Jurats, elected from the burgesses (members of the Gild Merchant, or freemen), along with two bailiffs, and a clerk. It appears to have existed before the Norman Conquest in 1066. In 1209, the lead member of the Portmanmoot, the Alderman, became known as a mayor. The Gild Merchant and the Moot overlapped in membership and had probably become effectively merged in the 14th century. Membership of the Twenty-Four appears to have been by co-option, chosen by themselves.

Traditionally, the general populace attended some meetings of the Moot and Guild, but this was restricted to burgesses in 1467. Later, in 1489, this changed to a system where the Mayor and the Twenty-Four chose Forty-Eight burgesses to represent the others, and the Twenty-Four and the Forty-Eight would govern jointly.

After doubts as to the ability of the Moot and Gild to hold property arose in the 16th century, the corporation was formed, replacing the Gild and Portmanmoot, in 1589. A second charter was granted in 1599, reconfirming this, to The Mayor, Bailiffs and Burgesses of the Borough of Leicester. The 24 Jurats became known as the Aldermen of the corporation, and the 48 other Burgesses as the Common Council. The members of the Corporation chose the burgesses to send to the House of Commons.

Leicester was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised how most boroughs across the country were governed. The borough was then led by a corporate body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Leicester", which was generally known as the corporation or town council.^[4] The previous system of co-option for members of the council was replaced with elections by rate-payers. This led to a prolonged spell of Liberal control of the council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Leicester was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services, and so it became a county borough, independent from Leicestershire County Council.^[5]

In 1919 Leicester was awarded city status, after which the corporation was formally called the "mayor, aldermen and citizens of the city of Leicester", also known as the city council. In 1928 the council was given the right to appoint a Lord Mayor.^[6]

The corporation was replaced in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, with the modern Leicester City Council, a non-metropolitan district council. This was a lower tier district-level authority, with county-level services being provided to the city by Leicestershire County Council for the first time.

In 1997, Leicester City Council regained responsibility for county-level services from Leicestershire County Council as part of the 1990s UK local government reforms. The way this change was implemented was to create a new non-metropolitan county of Leicester covering the same area as the existing district, but with no separate county council; instead the existing city council took on county functions, making it a unitary authority. This therefore had the effect of restoring the city council to the powers it had held when Leicester was a county borough prior to 1974.^[7]

In 2011, following a referendum, the position of directly elected mayor was created to provide political leadership for the council. The directly elected mayor is called the City Mayor to distinguish the post from the continuing position of Lord Mayor. The Lord Mayor acts as a ceremonial figurehead for the city and chairs council meetings, with the position usually being held by a different councillor each year.

Governance

As a unitary authority, Leicester City Council provides both county-level and district-level services. Some services are provided via joint committees with other councils, notably the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service and Leicestershire Constabulary, which are run by joint boards of the city council with Leicestershire County Council and Rutland County Council. There are no civil parishes in the city.^[8]

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2007.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms took effect has been as follows:^{[9] [10]}

Non-metropolitan district

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1974–1976
	Conservative	1976–1979
	Labour	1979–1997

Unitary authority

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1997–2003
	No overall control	2003–2007
	Labour	2007–present

Leadership

Political leadership is provided by the directly elected Mayor of Leicester. The separate post of Lord Mayor is the council's ceremonial figurehead and chairs full council meetings. Prior to 2011 political leadership was provided by the leader of the council. The leaders from 1974 to 2011 were:^[11]

Councillor	Party		From	To
Jim Marshall		Labour	1974	1974
Ken Middleton		Labour	1974	1976
Michael Cufflin		Conservative	1976	1979
Ken Middleton		Labour	1979	1981
Peter Soulsby		Labour	1981	1994
Stuart Foster		Labour	1994	1996
Peter Soulsby		Labour	1996	1999
Ross Willmott		Labour	1999	22 May 2003
Roger Blackmore[12]		Liberal Democrats	22 May 2003	25 Nov 2004
Ross Willmott		Labour	25 Nov 2004	19 May 2005
Roger Blackmore		Liberal Democrats	19 May 2005	17 May 2007
Ross Willmott		Labour	17 May 2007	25 Mar 2010
Veejay Patel		Labour	25 Mar 2010	8 May 2011

Since 2011, the directly elected mayor has been:

Mayor	Party		From	To
Peter Soulsby		Labour	9 May 2011

Composition

Following the 2023 election, and subsequent changes of allegiance up to July 2024, the composition of the council, excluding the City Mayor's seat, was:^[13][14]

Party		Councillors
	Labour	31
	Conservative	15
	Liberal Democrats	3
	Green	3
	Independent	2
Total		54

The next election is due in 2027.

Premises

Council's main offices: City Hall, 115 Charles Street, Leicester, LE1 1FZ

The council has its main offices at City Hall on Charles Street, which was built in 1938, previously being called Municipal Buildings and Attenborough House until it was renamed City Hall in 2014.^[15]

Council meetings are held at Leicester Town Hall on Town Hall Square, which was completed in 1876.^[16]

Between 1975 and 2014 the council had its main offices at the New Walk Centre, which has since been demolished.

New Walk Centre, former council offices that were demolished in 2015

Elections

See also: Leicester City Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 54 councillors representing 21 wards with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years, with the election for the mayor and council being held together.^[17]

The wards are:^[18]

Ward	Councillors	Notes
Abbey	3	from Abbey Park up to Stocking Farm and Mowmacre Hill
Aylestone	2	Aylestone Village, Gilmorton estate, part of Aylestone Park, Aylestone Meadows, one side of Saffron Lane from the Porkpie roundabout to Knighton Lane and Aylestone Road/Lutterworth Road from Grace Road to the county border at Glen Parva.
Beaumont Leys	3
Belgrave	3	most of the Belgrave area
Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields	3	including most of Braunstone
Castle	3	city centre, Southfields, Clarendon Park
Evington	3
Eyres Monsell	2
Fosse	2
Humberstone & Hamilton	3	including Nether Hall
Knighton	3
North Evington	3
Rushey Mead	3	Includes parts of the Belgrave area including Agar Street.
Saffron	2
Spinney Hills	2	including parts of Highfields
Stoneygate	3	also including parts of Highfields
Thurncourt	2	The Thurnby Lodge estate
Troon	2	The Northfields estate, parts of the former Charnwood ward and a small part of the Rushey Mead area
Westcotes	2
Western	3	The New Parks estate
Wycliffe	2	St Matthew's estate and part of Highfields

A new set of wards and ward boundaries came into effect for the 7 May 2015 council elections. Wards that previously existed and were abolished are Charnwood, Coleman, Freeman, Latimer, New Parks and Western Park.

The previous ward boundaries were adopted for the 2003 local elections.^[19] Prior to this, there had been 28 wards, each electing 2 members. Wards that had existed and been abolished were Crown Hills, East Knighton, Mowmacre, North Braunstone, Rowley Fields, Saffron, St Augustine's, West Humberstone, West Knighton and Wycliffe.

Coat of arms

Coat of arms of Leicester City Council

Notes Arms and crest granted in 1619, supporters in 1926.[20] Crest On a wreath of the colours a wyvern sans legs Argent strewed with wounds Gules wings expanded Ermine. Escutcheon Gules a cinquefoil pierced Ermine. Supporters On either side a lion reguardant Gules gorged with a ducal coronet suspended therefrom by a chain Or a cinquefoil Ermine pierced Gules. Motto Semper Eadem ('Always The Same')