Crawley Borough Council is the local authority for Crawley in West Sussex, England. It consists of 36 councillors and is currently controlled by the Labour Party, led by Michael Jones. The administrative headquarters are at Crawley Town Hall.
Crawley Borough Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Ian Duke since 25 September 2023[3] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 36 councillors |
 | |
Political groups |
|
Length of term | 4 years |
| Elections | |
Last election | 2 May 2024 |
Next election | 7 May 2026 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Town Hall, The Boulevard, Crawley, RH10 0ZZ | |
| Website | |
| crawley | |
History
editPrior to 1956 Crawley had been governed as a rural parish within the Horsham Rural District. The parish was significantly enlarged in 1933 when the neighbouring parish of Ifield was abolished. Following the designation of Crawley as a new town in 1947,[4] the parish was further enlarged in 1953 to take in the Three Bridges area from the neighbouring parish of Worth.[5]
The parish of Crawley was made an urban district in 1956.[6][7]
The urban district was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, gaining the parts of the parishes of Slaugham and Worth within the designated area for the new town, plus Gatwick Airport and adjoining areas from the Surrey parishes of Charlwood and Horley.[8][9] The reformed district was awarded borough status at the same time, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[10]
Governance
editCrawley Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by West Sussex County Council.[11] There are no civil parishes in the borough, which is an unparished area.[12]
Political control
editThe council has been under Labour majority control since 2022.[13]
Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:[14][15]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 1974–2006 | |
| Conservative | 2006–2006 | |
| No overall control | 2006–2007 | |
| Conservative | 2007–2014 | |
| Labour | 2014–2020 | |
| No overall control | 2020–2022 | |
| Labour | 2022–present | |
Leadership
editThe role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Crawley. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been:[16]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Waller | Labour | 1974 | 1978 | |
| Ben Clay | Labour | 1978 | 1980 | |
| Alf Pegler | Labour | 1980 | 1982 | |
| Tony Edwards | Labour | 1982 | 1983 | |
| Ben Clay | Labour | 1983 | 1986 | |
| Alf Pegler | Labour | 1986 | 1996 | |
| Tony Edwards | Labour | 1996 | 2000 | |
| Chris Redmayne | Labour | 2000 | 2006 | |
| Bob Lanzer | Conservative | 2006 | 2013 | |
| Howard Bloom | Conservative | 2013 | 2014 | |
| Peter Lamb | Labour | 2014 | 2022 | |
| Michael Jones | Labour | 2022 | ||
Composition
editFollowing the 2024 election, the composition of the council was:[17][18]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 25 | |
| Conservative | 11 | |
| Total | 36 | |
The next election is due in 2026.
Elections
editSince the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 36 councillors representing 13 wards. Each ward elects two or three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council being elected each time for a four-year term of office. West Sussex County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections.[19]
Premises
edit
The council is based at Crawley Town Hall on the Boulevard, purpose-built for it on the site of the old Civic Hall (in the Town Hall complex built in 1964 for the urban district council) and formally opened on 21 March 2023.[20][21][22]
References
edit- ^ "New Mayor of Crawley". Crawley Borough Council. 29 May 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
- ^ "Council minutes, 27 May 2022" (PDF). Crawley Borough Council. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "New Chief Executive appointed". Crawley Borough Council. 18 September 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
- ^ "No. 37849". The London Gazette. 10 January 1947. p. 231.
- ^ "Crawley Chapelry / Ancient Parish / Civil Parish". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
- ^ "Relationships and changes Crawley Urban District through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- ^ "Crawley Urban District Council". The National Archives. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- ^ "Charlwood and Horley Act 1974", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1974 c. 11, retrieved 13 January 2024
- ^ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1974. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
- ^ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
- ^ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
- ^ "New leader, Cabinet and Mayor appointed at Crawley Borough Council". Sussex Express. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- ^ "England council elections". BBC News Online. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "Council minutes". Crawley Borough Council. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ "Crawley election result". BBC News.
- ^ "Your Councillors". Crawley Borough Council. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ "The Crawley (Electoral Changes) Order 2019", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2019/198, retrieved 28 January 2024
- ^ "Crawley's New Town Hall is officially opened". Sussex World. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ "Crawley New Town". Crawley Encyclopedia. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
- ^ "Milestone as council takes possession of new Town Hall". Crawley Borough Council. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2024.