High Peak Borough Council

High Peak Borough Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district council
Leadership
Executive	Labour and Co-operative
Leader of Council	Cllr Anthony McKeown, Labour
Deputy Leader of Council	Cllr Damien Greenhalgh, Labour
Mayor of the High Peak	Cllr Ed Kelly
Chief Executive	Andrew Stokes
Structure
Labour	22 / 43
Conservatives	16 / 43
Liberal Democrats	3 / 43
Green Party	2 / 43
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	2 May 2019
Next election
Meeting place
Buxton Town Hall SK17 6EL Municipal Buildings, Glossop SK13 8AF Full Council meetings are held at the Octagon, Buxton
Website
http://www.highpeak.gov.uk
Footnotes
The council meeting places have changed due to the closure and sale of the council's former base at Chinley[1]

High Peak Borough Council is the local authority for High Peak, a borough of Derbyshire, England. It forms part of the two-tier system of local government for High Peak, alongside Derbyshire County Council. The administrative base of High Peak Borough Council is split between sites in the towns of Buxton and Glossop. Full council meetings are usually held at the Octagon, Buxton. The whole council is elected once every four years. As of 2019, the council is controlled by the Labour Party.

In February 2008, the council formed a strategic alliance with the neighbouring Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, an arrangement where both councils share a number of services and staff to keep costs as low as possible.^[2]

History[]

High Peak Borough Council was formed on 1 April 1974 by absorbing the municipal boroughs of Buxton and Glossop, the urban districts of New Mills and Whaley Bridge and the rural district of Chapel-en-le-Frith, all of which had previously been in the administrative county of Derbyshire, as well as the rural district of Tintwistle which had been in the administrative county of Cheshire.

At the May 2011 election the Conservative Party lost overall control of the council and it became No overall control, with the Labour Party having the largest number of seats but being short of a majority.

Shortly after taking office in 2007, the Conservative Party implemented a number of policies including contracting out the refuse and recycling services. The contract began in August 2008, and was continued by the succeeding Labour administration.

In June 2009, the ruling Conservative administration took the decision to dispose of the former council headquarters in Chinley, which also housed the location of full council meetings. The council said that disposal of the site would save £200,000 per year.^[3] The site has now been sold.

Administration[]

The council, made up of 43 councillors, is currently controlled by the Labour Party, which won 22 seats at the 2019 local election.^[4]

Leadership[]

The council is run by the "Leader and cabinet" model, where the Leader of the council – normally leader of the majority party – is selected by fellow councillors, who also select the Executive. At the 2019 local election, the Labour Party gained 5 seats and took control with a majority of 6. Cllr Anthony McKeown became the Leader of the council and Cllr Damien Greenhalgh became the Deputy Leader of the council.

Executive[]

At the 2019 election, the Conservative Party lost its majority control of the council and the Labour and Co-operative Party became the largest party with 22 seats, gaining a majority of 6. The Executive's membership including the Leader and Deputy Leader remained at five councillors.

Previous administrations[]

From 2003 to 2007 the Leader was David Lomax of the Liberal Democrats. In 2007, after the Conservatives gained control of the council, John Faulkner was elected to the post, but he resigned less than a year later, and Deputy Leader Tony Ashton took over as Leader.

From 2011 to 2015, the Leader was Caitlin Bisknell, after the Labour Party gained control with a minority administration.

At the 2015 local election, Tony Ashton became the Leader of High Peak Borough Council and Tony Kemp became the Deputy Leader, after the Conservative Party gained control with a majority of 3.

Mayor of the Borough of High Peak[]

The current Mayor is Cllr Ed Kelly, who was elected as Mayor of High Peak for 2019/2020 and subsequently for 2020/2021. Unusually, Cllr Kelly's term as Mayor has been extended for a second consecutive year, due to issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Predecessors include:

• Cllr Ed Kelly (2019/2020)
• Cllr Linda Grooby (2018/2019)
• Cllr Matt Stone (2017/2018)
• Cllr Stuart Young (2015/16)
• Cllr Alan Barrow (2014/15)
• Cllr Tony Kemp (2013/14)
• Cllr Pat Jenner, (2012/13)
• Cllr David Lomax (2011/12)
• Cllr Graham Oakley (2010/11)

Electoral wards and councillors[]

Map of electoral wards in High Peak

Below is a list of all 43 serving councillors:^[5]

Arms[]

References[]

External links[]

• High Peak Borough Council