Vale of White Horse District Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1 April 1974 |
| Leadership | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 38 councillors |
 | |
Political groups |
|
Length of term | 4 years |
| Elections | |
| First-past-the-post, Whole council elected every 4 years | |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
Next election | 2027 |
| Website | |
| whitehorsedc | |
Vale of White Horse District Council is the local authority for the Vale of White Horse, a non-metropolitan district in the south-west of Oxfordshire, England, that was created on 1 April 1974.
Political control
At the first elections in 1973 forty-nine district councillors were elected from thirty-one electoral wards.[3] Currently thirty-eight councillors are elected from twenty four electoral wards, which cover the principal towns of Abingdon, Faringdon and Wantage and surrounding villages.[4] This was effective from the 2015 elections.[5]
Between 2011 and 2019 the council had a Conservative majority. The Liberal Democrats took control from May 2019.[6] Elections of the full council take place every four years.
At the May 2019 local elections, the Liberal Democrats overcame the Tories' 20-seat majority to become the major party with a 24-seat majority.[6]
In the May 2023 local elections, the Conservative party lost all its remaining seats on the council. [7]
The first election to the district council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[8][9]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 1974–1995 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 1995–2011 | |
| Conservative | 2011–2019 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 2019–present | |
Leadership
The leaders of the council since 2004 have been:[10]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerry Patterson | Liberal Democrats | 2004 | 21 May 2008 | |
| Tony de Vere | Liberal Democrats | 21 May 2008 | 18 May 2011 | |
| Matthew Barber | Conservative | 18 May 2011 | 16 May 2018 | |
| Roger Cox | Conservative | 16 May 2018 | 5 May 2019 | |
| Emily Smith | Liberal Democrats | 15 May 2019 | 7 Dec 2022 | |
| Bethia Thomas | Liberal Democrats | 7 Dec 2022 | ||
Premises
The council was initially based in a number of offices inherited from its predecessor authorities across the district. In the early 1990s the council built itself a new headquarters in Abingdon called Abbey House (or "New Abbey House" to distinguish it from the neighbouring building formerly also called Abbey House, which was renamed "Old Abbey House").[11]
In 2014 the council largely vacated Abbey House, retaining only a small presence there, with most of Abbey House since 2014 being occupied instead by Oxfordshire County Council. Vale of White Horse moved most of its staff to share the offices of its neighbour South Oxfordshire in Crowmarsh Gifford, but in 2015 that building was destroyed in a fire following an arson attack. From 2015 until 2022, Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire shared temporary office accommodation at Milton Park near Didcot.[12] The two councils returned to Abbey House in 2022 as a temporary measure, with the intention being to build a new shared headquarters in Didcot.[13]
See also
References
- ^ Serves as joint chief executive for both Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire District Council
- ^ "Leader and Cabinet Members confirmed at annual Vale of White Horse District Council meeting". Vale of White Horse District Council. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
- ^ "Chief to stay". Henley Standard. 25 December 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
- ^ "Vale of White Horse District County Council Election Results 1973-2011" (PDF). The Elections Centre (Plymouth University). Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ "Local Elections 2019: Your candidates in Vale of White Horse". Oxford Mail. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ "The Vale of White Horse (Electoral Changes) Order 2014". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ a b "Election results: Lib Dems win Oxfordshire Tory council". BBC News. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ "Vale of White Horse result Election 2023". BBC News. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
- ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
- ^ "Vale of White Horse". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ^ "Council minutes". Vale of White Horse District Council. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ Planning application P89/V0081/DA: Construction of new district council offices including alterations to Abbey House, at Abbey House, Abbey Close, Abingdon, granted 19 April 1989.
- ^ "Councils will build new HQ at site of arson-hit offices". BBC News. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ "District Councils to be temporarily based in Abingdon". Vale of White Horse District Council. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
External links
This page was last edited on 23 May 2023, at 07:28