Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, also known as Tameside Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government services in the borough. The council has been a member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority since 2011.

Quick Facts Type, History ...
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council
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Coat of arms
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Corporate logo
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 1974
Leadership
Betty Affleck,
Labour
since 21 May 2024[1]
Eleanor Wills
since 24 October 2024[2]
Harry Catherall (interim)
since 29 October 2024
Structure
Seats57 councillors
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Political groups
Administration
  Labour (48)
Other parties
  Conservative (7)
  Independent (2)
Joint committees
Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Greater Manchester Police, Fire and Crime Panel
Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board
Bee Network Committee
Elections
Last election
2 May 2024
Next election
7 May 2026
Meeting place
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Tameside One, Market Square, Ashton-under-Lyne, OL6 6BH
Website
www.tameside.gov.uk
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The council has been under Labour majority control since 1979. It is based at Tameside One in Ashton-under-Lyne.

History

The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside and its council were created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as one of ten metropolitan districts within the new metropolitan county of Greater Manchester. The first election was held in 1973. For its first year the council acted as a shadow authority alongside the area's nine outgoing authorities, being the borough councils of Ashton-under-Lyne, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge, and the urban district councils of Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden and Longdendale. The new metropolitan district and its council formally came into being on 1 April 1974, at which point the old districts and their councils were abolished.[3]

The metropolitan district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[4]

From 1974 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the Greater Manchester County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to Greater Manchester's ten borough councils, including Tameside, with some services provided through joint committees.[5]

Since 2011 the council has been a member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which has been led by the directly elected Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. The combined authority provides strategic leadership and co-ordination for certain functions across Greater Manchester, notably regarding transport and town planning, but Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions.[6][7]

The council was documented in the 2014 BBC Television series Call the Council, which showed its workers carrying out their duties.[8]

Governance

The council provides metropolitan borough services. Some strategic functions in the area are provided by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority; the leader of Tameside Council sits on the combined authority as Tameside's representative.[9] There is one civil parish in the borough at Mossley, which forms an additional tier of local government for that area; the rest of the borough is unparished.[10]

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since 1979.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms took effect has been as follows:[11][12]

More information Party in control, Years ...
Party in controlYears
Labour1974–1976
Conservative1976–1979
Labour1979–present
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Leadership

The council splits the functions usually exercised by a mayor into two roles: a 'civic mayor' who acts as a ceremonial figurehead and represents the council at civic functions, and a 'chair of council business' who presides at council meetings.[13] Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been:[14]

More information Councillor, Party ...
CouncillorPartyFromTo
Percy TravisLabour19741976
Colin GranthamConservative19761979
George NewtonLabour19791980
Roy Oldham[15][16]Labour198025 May 2010
Kieran Quinn[17][18]Labour25 May 201025 Dec 2017
Brenda Warrington[19]Labour31 Jan 201816 May 2022
Gerald CooneyLabour24 May 202210 October 2024[20]
Eleanor WillsLabour24 October 2024incumbent
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Composition

Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was:[21]

More information Party, Councillors ...
Party Councillors
Labour48
Conservative7
Independent2
Total 57
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The next election is due in May 2026.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023, the council has comprised 57 councillors representing 19 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four-year term of office.[22]

Wards and councillors

Each ward is represented by three councillors.[23]

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Council Wards
1 Ashton Hurst
2 Ashton St. Michael's
3 Ashton Waterloo
4 Droylsden East
5 Droylsden West
6 St Peter's
7 Audenshaw
8 Denton North East
9 Denton South
10 Denton West
11 Dukinfield
12 Dukinfield / Stalybridge
13 Hyde Godley
14 Hyde Newton
15 Hyde Werneth
16 Longdendale
17 Mossley
18 Stalybridge North
19 Stalybridge South
More information Ward, Councillor ...
Ward Councillor Party Term of office
Ashton Hurst Mike Glover Labour 2023-27
Dan Costello Conservative 2023-26
Mohammed Karim Labour 2024-28
Ashton St Michael's Andrew McLaren Labour 2023-27
Bill Fairfoull Labour 2023-26
Jean Drennan Labour 2024-28
Ashton Waterloo Vimal Choksi Labour 2023-27
Dave Howarth Labour 2023-26
Sangita Patel Labour 2024-28
Audenshaw Charlotte Martin Labour 2023-27
Nick Axford Labour 2023-26
Teresa Smith Labour 2024-28
Denton North East Allison Gwynne Labour 2023-27
Denise Ward Labour 2023-26
Vincent Ricci Labour 2024-28
Denton South George Newton Labour 2023-27
Claire Reid Labour 2023-26
Jack Naylor Labour 2024-28
Denton West George Jones Labour 2023-27
Brenda Warrington Labour 2023-26
Mike Smith Labour 2024-28
Droylsden East David Mills Labour 2023-27
Susan Quinn Labour 2023-26
Laura Boyle Labour 2024-28
Droylsden West Ged Cooney Labour 2023-27
Ann Holland Labour 2023-26
Barrie Holland Labour 2024-28
Dukinfield Jackie Lane Labour 2023-27
John Taylor Labour 2023-26
Naila Sharif Labour 2024-28
Dukinfield Stalybridge Leanne Feeley Labour 2023-27
David Sweeton Labour 2023-26
Eleanor Wills Labour 2024-28
Hyde Godley Joe Kitchen Labour 2023-27
Betty Affleck Labour 2023-26
Andrea Colbourne Conservative 2024-28
Hyde Newton Helen Bowden Labour 2023-27
Peter Robinson Labour 2023-26
Hugh Roderick Labour 2024-28
Hyde Werneth Phil Chadwick Conservative 2023-27
Shibley Alam Labour 2023-26
Christopher Halligan Conservative 2024-28
Longdendale Jacqueline North Labour 2023-27
Gary Ferguson Labour 2023-26
Jacqueline Owen Labour 2024-28
Mossley Jack Homer Labour 2023-27
Tafheen Sharif Labour 2023-26
Stephen Homer Labour 2024-28
St Peter's Joyce Bowerman Labour 2023-27
Warren Bray Labour 2023-26
Kaleel Khan Independent 2024-28
Stalybridge North Christine Beardmore Labour 2023-27
Adrian Pearce Labour 2023-26
Steven Barton Independent 2024-28
Stalybridge South Doreen Dickinson Conservative 2023-27
Liam Billington Conservative 2023-26
David Tilbrook Conservative 2024-28
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Premises

The council has its headquarters at Tameside One, which also includes a library and part of Tameside College. The building was completed in 2019.[24][25]

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Former council offices at Ashton-under-Lyne, demolished to make way for current 'Tameside One' headquarters

The council's former offices, known as the Tameside Administrative Centre, had been built on the same site in 1981. That building was demolished in 2016 to make way for Tameside One.[26] The site is immediately behind Ashton Town Hall, one of the buildings inherited from the council's predecessors.

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Dukinfield Town Hall, used for the council's annual meetings when mayors are appointed

The annual council meeting when new civic mayors are appointed is usually held at Dukinfield Town Hall.[27]

Coat of arms

Coat of arms of Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council
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Crest
Out of a mural crown Gules a demi-lion guardant Or resting the sinister forepaw on an escutcheon of the arms, mantled Gules doubled Or.
Escutcheon
Per bend Or and Vert a bend barry wavy Argent and Azure between in chief a rose Gules barbed and seeded Proper and in base a Garb Or.
Supporters
On the dexter a lion Or gorged with a chain pendent therefrom a mullet pierced Sable and on the sinister a male griffin Gules armed, beaked, irradiated and gorged with a chain pendent therefrom a cogwheel Or.
Motto
'Industry And Integrity'[28]

References

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