Cheltenham Borough Council

The town of Cheltenham was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1876, governed by a body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Cheltenham", but generally known as the corporation or town council. Prior to 1876 the town had been administered by a body of improvement commissioners which had been established in 1786.{{cite web |title=Cheltenham Borough Records |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/98121c17-9055-4d99-9ec5-dbdb11170ee9 |website=The National Archives |access-date=27 August 2023}}

The borough was reformed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, becoming a non-metropolitan district and absorbing the area of the former Charlton Kings urban district at the same time.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972|year=1972|number=2039|access-date=31 May 2023}} Cheltenham kept its borough status, allowing the council to take the name Cheltenham Borough Council and letting the chair of the council take the title of mayor, continuing Cheltenham's series of mayors dating back to 1876.{{cite web |title=District Councils and Boroughs, 28 March 1974 |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1974-03-28/debates/16e5331e-2e6e-4bc7-a7bf-eaa328491acd/DistrictCouncilsAndBoroughs |website=Hansard |access-date=20 August 2023}}

The borough was further enlarged in 1991 when it gained the parishes of Leckhampton, Prestbury, Swindon and Up Hatherley, all of which had previously been in Tewkesbury Borough.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Gloucestershire (District Boundaries) Order 1991|year=1991|number=281|access-date=27 August 2023}}

Cheltenham Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Gloucestershire County Council.{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1972|year=1972|chapter=70|access-date=31 May 2023}} Parts of the borough are also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government. The rest of the borough, roughly corresponding to the pre-1974 municipal borough, is an unparished area.{{cite web |title=Election maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=26 August 2023}}

The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since 2010.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:{{cite web |title=Compositions Calculator |url=https://www.electionscentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/composition_calc.html |access-date=26 November 2024 |website=The Elections Centre |publisher=University of Exeter}} (Put "Cheltenham" in search box to see specific results.){{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/council/html/3672.stm | title = Cheltenham | accessdate = 2010-05-07 | work = BBC News Online | date=2009-04-19}}

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Cheltenham. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2002 have been:

Following the 2024 election,{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/england/councils/E07000078 |title=Cheltenham election result|publisher=BBC News|date=3 May 2024|access-date=20 May 2024}}{{Cite web|first1=Chris|last1=Lockyer|date=3 May 2024|title=Lib Dems retain control of Cheltenham Borough Council

|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmj61dk78m3o|access-date=20 May 2024|publisher=BBC News}}{{Cite web|date=3 May 2024|access-date=20 May 2024|title=Cheltenham Borough Council Elections - Thursday, 2nd May, 2024

|url=https://democracy.cheltenham.gov.uk/mgElectionResults.aspx?ID=21&RPID=19316536|language=en}} the composition of the council is:

The next election is due 7 May 2026.

The council is based at the Municipal Offices on the Promenade.{{cite web |title=Contact us |url=https://www.cheltenham.gov.uk/contact |website=Cheltenham Borough Council |access-date=27 August 2023}} The building was built as a row of 19 terraced houses called Harward's Buildings between 1823 and 1840. Seven houses in the terrace were acquired by Cheltenham Borough Council in 1916 and converted to become their offices, with the other houses being acquired later.{{NHLE|desc=Numbers 47 to 83 and Attached Railings with Low Walls and End Piers to Numbers 71 and 73|num=1387631|accessdate=8 November 2020}}

{{see also|Cheltenham Borough Council elections}}

Since the last boundary changes in 2024 the council has comprised 40 councillors representing 20 wards, with each ward electing two councillors. Elections are held in alternate years, with half the council (one councillor for each ward) being elected each time for a four-year term of office.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Cheltenham (Electoral Changes) Order 2023|year=2023|number=820|access-date=27 August 2023}}

Cheltenham’s coat-of-arms were granted in 1877, and are still in use by the council.

{| class="wikitable"

!Armorial achievement

!Blazon

!References

|-

|frameless

|Crest

Upon a mount between two branches of oak proper, a fountain thereon a pigeon proper.

Or, a chevron engrailed gules between two pigeons argent in chief and an uprooted oak tree in base proper; atop, a chief azure under a cross flory argent between two open books proper binding.

SALUBRITAS ET ERUDITIO

|{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry, Local Achievements and Coats-of-Arms - Gloucestershire Archives |url=https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/archives/learning-for-all/families/arise-sir-knight/how-did-knights-tell-each-other-apart/civic-heraldry-local-achievements-and-coats-of-arms/ |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=www.gloucestershire.gov.uk}}{{Cite web |last=Ingram |first=Jennie |title=Arms of Insignia of the Borough |url=https://www.cheltenham.gov.uk/info/37/local_history_and_heritage/334/arms_of_insignia_of_the_borough |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=www.cheltenham.gov.uk |language=en}}

|}

{{reflist}}

{{Cheltenham, Gloucestershire}}

Category:Non-metropolitan district councils of England

Category:Local authorities in Gloucestershire

Category:Politics of Cheltenham