Salisbury City Council is a parish-level council for Salisbury, England. It was established in April 2009 and is based in the city's historic Guildhall. Following the May 2021 election, no party has an overall majority.
Salisbury City Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Mayor | Cllr Sven Hocking |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 24 |
7 / 24 | |
7 / 24 | |
7 / 24 | |
2 / 24 | |
1 / 24 | |
| Elections | |
| Plurality-at-large voting | |
Last election | 6 May 2021 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| The Guildhall, Salisbury | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Population
editThe civil parish of Salisbury – which excludes some of the city's suburbs and satellite villages such as Old Sarum, Laverstock, Hampton Park, Britford, Netherhampton and Odstock – had a population of 40,302 at the 2011 census.[1]
Establishment
editAs New Sarum, Salisbury has been ranked as a city since "time immemorial". The Local Government Act 1972, which took effect in 1974, eliminated the New Sarum City Council, administered under its charters, with the new Salisbury District Council taking over its administrative functions. However, the status of a city was preserved after 1974 by the Charter trustees of the City of New Sarum. That name was formally changed from "New Sarum" to "Salisbury" by the 2009 structural changes to local government in England which created a civil parish of Salisbury and a new Salisbury City Council as its first tier of local government.[2][3] The parish was again granted city status by letters patent dated 1 April 2009.[4]
The council met in temporary offices until 2011, while the 18th-century Salisbury Guildhall was adapted.[2]
Coat of arms
editOn 23 March 2010, the city council was granted a royal licence, transferring to it the armorial bearings of the previous City of New Sarum. The arms and supporters were originally recorded at the heraldic visitations of Wiltshire in 1565 and 1623.[5] The blazon of the arms is:
Barry of eight Azure and Or. Supporters: On either side an eagle displayed with two heads Or, ducally gorged Azure.[6][7]
There do not appear to be any meanings attached to the design.[8] The traditional explanation that the blue stripes represent the rivers that meet in the city is now discounted.[8][9] It has also been suggested that the eagles derive from the arms of the Bouverie family, Earls of Radnor, benefactors of the city. However, this also can be discounted, as the arms of the city were recorded before the family was connected with it.[8][9]
Membership
editThe council has 24 members, elected by eight wards which each elect three councillors.[10] Boundary changes confirmed in 2020 and applied at the 2021 election redrew wards in the central, Harnham, Milford and Bishopdown areas and increased the number of councillors from 23.[11][12]
Elections to the city council took place on Thursday 6 May 2021.[13] The current makeup of the council is shown below; those marked * are also Wiltshire Councillors.
| Ward | Councillor | Party | Term of office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salisbury (Bemerton Heath) | Caroline Corbin* | Labour | 2021- | |
| Tom Corbin | Labour | 2021- | ||
| Ed Rimmer | Reform | 2021- | ||
| Salisbury (Fisherton & Bemerton Village) | Ricky Rogers* | Labour | 2021- | |
| Jenny Bolwell | Labour | 2021- | ||
| Jeremy Nettle | Conservative | 2021- | ||
| Salisbury (Harnham West) | Brian Dalton* | Liberal Democrat | 2021- | |
| Ted Last | Liberal Democrat | 2023- | ||
| Annie Riddle | Independent | 2021- | ||
| Salisbury (Milford) | Charles McGrath* | Conservative | 2021- | |
| Jo King | Conservative | 2021- | ||
| Al Bayliss | Liberal Democrat | 2021- | ||
| Salisbury (St Francis & Stratford) | Cliona Hibbert | Conservative | 2021- | |
| Sharon Rideout | Labour | 2024- | ||
| John Wells | Labour | 2021- | ||
| Salisbury (St Edmunds) | Paul Sample* | Liberal Democrat | 2021- | |
| Chris Stanway | Liberal Democrat | 2021- | ||
| Atiqul Hoque | Independent | 2021- | ||
| Salisbury (Harnham East) | Sven Hocking* | Conservative | 2021- | |
| Jo Broom | Conservative | 2021- | ||
| Ian Tomes | Labour | 2021- | ||
| Salisbury (St Paul's) | Sam Charleston* | Liberal Democrat | 2021- | |
| Victoria Charleston | Liberal Democrat | 2021- | ||
| Chris Taylor | Conservative | 2024- | ||
History of control
editAt the first elections to the city council in 2009, the Liberal Democrats gained twelve seats, giving them a majority of one over all other parties.[14]
At the next elections, on Thursday, 2 May 2013, no party had overall control. Days after the election, Jo Broom, who had been elected in Fisherton & Bemerton Village as a Liberal Democrat, joined the Conservatives. Then, following the resignation of a Conservative, there was a by-election in the St Martin's & Cathedral ward on 9 January 2014, won by Patricia Fagan for Labour.
In 2017, the Conservatives won an overall majority for the first time.
In 2021, the Conservatives lost their majority to no overall control.
Functions
editThe council had some sixty employees in 2018[11] and is responsible for the following properties and services:[2]
- Parks and associated public conveniences
- Car parks
- Cemeteries and Salisbury Crematorium
- Play areas
- Sports pitches
- Open spaces
- Allotments
- Charter market
- Charter fair
- The Guildhall
- Bemerton Heath neighbourhood centre
- General fund shops and garages owned by the city prior to 1974
- Events: Christmas Lights, St George's Day, Salisbury Food Festival, Music in the Parks, Britain in Bloom
- City Centre management
- General Community Fund
References
edit- ^ Office for National Statistics
- ^ a b c "Case study on the experience of newly established local (parish and town) councils: Salisbury" (PDF). National Association of Local Councils. January 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
- ^ "Civic History Its Charters and Silver". The Guildhall Salisbury. Salisbury City Council. 2009. Archived from the original on 23 December 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- ^ "No. 59250". The London Gazette. 24 November 2009. p. 20329.
The QUEEN has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal bearing date 1 April 2009 to confer on the Parish of Salisbury the status of a City.
- ^ "No. 59398". The London Gazette. 21 April 2010. p. 7045.
- ^ Briggs, Geoffrey (1971). Civic and Corporate Heraldry: A Dictionary of Impersonal Arms of England, Wales and N. Ireland. London: Heraldry Today. p. 346. ISBN 0-900455-21-7.
- ^ Fox-Davies, A C (1915). The Book of Public Arms, 2nd edition. London: T C & E C Jack. p. 690.
- ^ a b c "What is the symbolism behind Salisbury's coat of arms?". Wiltshire History Questions. Wiltshire Council. 19 November 2004. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
- ^ a b Scott-Giles, C Wilfrid (1953). Civic Heraldry of England and Wales, 2nd edition. London: J M Dent & Sons. p. 384.
- ^ "Elections - May 2021". Salisbury City Council. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
- ^ a b "About Your Council". Salisbury City Council. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ^ "Wiltshire Unitary Authority (UA)". Local Government Boundary Commission for England. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
- ^ Gibson, Gemma (10 May 2021). "Local election 2021: Salisbury City Council results revealed". Salisbury Journal. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
- ^ "City Council elections" in Salisbury Journal, 11 June 2009, p. 3
External links
edit- Official website
- "Views sought on new city council". BBC News Online. 5 March 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
Under the new system of local government, the city council would have the same powers and functions as a town or parish council. These include looking after allotments, burial ground, cemeteries and crematoria, bus shelters, community centres, the arts, public footpaths and public toilets.