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Flintshire County Council

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Flintshire Council

Cyngor Sir y Fflint
Type
Type
Leadership
Dennis Hutchinson,
Independent
since 14 May 2024[2]
vacant
since 30 July 2024
Neal Cockerton[1]
since 2021
Structure
Seats67 councillors
Political groups
Administration (48)
  Labour (29)
  Independent (13)
  Eagle (6)
Other parties (19)
  True Independents (7)
  Flintshire People's Voice (5)
  Liberal Democrat (3)
  Independent (2)
  Conservative (1)
  Non-aligned (1)
Length of term
5 years
Elections
First-past-the-post
Last election
5 May 2022
Next election
6 May 2027
Meeting place
County Hall, Raikes Lane, Mold, CH7 6NB
Website
www.flintshire.gov.uk

Flintshire County Council is the unitary local authority for the county of Flintshire, one of the principal areas of Wales. It is based at County Hall in Mold.[3]

Elections take place every five years. The last election was on 5 May 2022.

History

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Flintshire County Council was first created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, which established elected county councils to take over the administrative functions of the quarter sessions. That county council and the administrative county of Flintshire were abolished in 1974, when the area merged with neighbouring Denbighshire to become the new county of Clwyd. Flintshire was unusual in retaining exclaves right up until the 1974 reforms. The contiguous part of the county was split to become three of the six districts of Clwyd: Alyn and Deeside, Delyn, and Rhuddlan. The county's exclaves of Maelor Rural District and the parish of Marford and Hoseley both went to the Wrexham Maelor district.[4]

Under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, Clwyd County Council and the county's constituent districts were abolished, being replaced by principal areas, whose councils perform the functions which had previously been divided between the county and district councils. The two districts of Alyn and Deeside and Delyn were merged to become a new county of Flintshire, which came into effect on 1 April 1996. The Flintshire County Council created in 1996 therefore covers a smaller area than the pre-1974 county, omitting the Rhuddlan district, which went to the new Denbighshire county, and omitting the pre-1974 exclaves, which form part of Wrexham County Borough.[5]

Political control

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The council has been under no overall control since 2012. Following the 2022 election Labour formed a minority administration with informal support from the Liberal Democrats.[6]

The first election to the new council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1996 has been held by the following parties:[7]

Party in control Years
Labour 1996–2008
No overall control 2008–present

Leadership

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The leaders of the council since 1996 have been:[8]

Councillor Party From To
Tom Middlehurst Labour 1 Apr 1996 9 May 1999
Alex Aldridge[9] Labour 18 May 1999 10 Jan 2006
Derek Darlington[10] Labour 10 Jan 2006 27 Nov 2006
Aaron Shotton Labour 19 Dec 2006 13 May 2008
Arnold Woolley Independent 13 May 2008 15 May 2012
Aaron Shotton[11] Labour 15 May 2012 9 Apr 2019
Ian Roberts[12][13] Labour 9 Apr 2019 30 Jul 2024

Composition

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Following the 2022 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to July 2024, the composition of the council was:[14]

Party Councillors
Labour 27
Independent 36
Liberal Democrats 3
Conservative 1
Total 67

As at July 2024, of the 36 independent councillors, 25 sit together as the 'Independent Group', five form the 'Flintshire People's Voice' group, four form the 'Eagle Group', and two are not aligned to any group.[15][16] The next election is due in 2027.[17]

Elections

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Since 2012, elections have taken place every five years. The last election was 5 May 2022.

Year Seats Labour Independent Liberal Democrats Conservative Plaid Cymru Green Notes
1995[18] 72 46 17 5 3 1 0 Labour majority controlled
1999 70 42 17 7 1 2 1 Labour majority controlled. New ward boundaries.[19]
2004 70 37 18 10 4 1 0 Labour majority controlled
2008 70 22 27 11 9 1 0
2012 70 30 24 7 8 1 0
2017[20] 70 34 25 5 6 0 0
2022[20] 67 31 30 4 2 0 0 New ward boundaries.[21]

Party with the most elected councillors in bold. Coalition agreements in notes column.

By the May 2017 elections the Labour Group held 34 seats on the council and held the same number after the election results came in, though they had gained seats in some wards (for example Llanfynydd) and lost in others (e.g. Bagillt East).[22] Fourteen (13 Lab & 1 Ind) of the seventy seats were elected unopposed.[23]

Following the elections in 2012 the council was governed by a coalition between Labour and a group of some of the Independents. Labour was the largest political group within the council with 34 members, followed by the Independent Alliance (14), Conservatives (6), Independents (6), the Liberal Democrats (5), and the New Independents (5).

Premises

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The council is based at County Hall on Raikes Lane in Mold, which was built in 1967 for the original Flintshire County Council. Between 1974 and 1996 the building had been the headquarters of Clwyd County Council. When Flintshire was re-established as an administrative area in 1996 the new council inherited County Hall and the relatively new offices (built 1992) of Alyn and Deeside Borough Council at St David's Park in Ewloe in the community of Hawarden. The building at Ewloe was leased to Unilever for some years and was renamed Unity House. By 2018, County Hall was proving very costly to maintain, while Unilever's lease of Unity House had ended and the council had tried to sell it without success. The council therefore decided to move several departments to Unity House, which it renamed Ty Dewi Sant. The rear wings of County Hall were then demolished in 2020, retaining only the front part of the building which includes the council chamber and some office space. County Hall therefore continues to serve as the council's official headquarters and meeting place, but many of the council's staff are now based at Ty Dewi Sant.[24][25] The council also has an area office at Chapel Street in Flint called County Offices (formerly Delyn House) which it inherited from Delyn Borough Council.[26]

Electoral divisions

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Electoral divisions of Flintshire

Since the 2022 elections, the county has been divided into 45 wards, returning 67 councillors.[21]

Few communities in Flintshire are coterminous with electoral wards. The following table lists the wards as existed prior to 2022 along with the communities and associated geographical areas. Communities with a community council are indicated by *:

Ward Communities Other geographic areas
Argoed Argoed* (East and South wards)
Aston Hawarden* (Aston ward)
Bagillt East Bagillt* (East and Merllyn wards)
Bagillt West Bagillt* (Central and West wards)
Broughton North East Broughton and Bretton* (East and North wards)
Broughton South Broughton and Bretton* (South ward)
Brynford
  • Brynford*
  • Halkyn* (Pentre Halkyn ward)
Buckley Bistre East Buckley (town)* (Bistre East ward)
Buckley Bistre West Buckley (town)* (Bistre West ward)
Buckley Mountain Buckley (town)* (Mountain ward)
Buckley Pentrobin Buckley (town)* (Pentrobin ward)
Caergwrle Hope* (Caergwrle ward)
Caerwys
Cilcain
Connah's Quay Central Connah's Quay (town)* (Central ward)
Connah's Quay Golftyn Connah's Quay (town)* (Golftyn ward)
Connah's Quay South Connah's Quay (town)* (South ward)
Connah's Quay Wepre Connah's Quay (town)* (Wepre ward)
Ewloe Hawarden* (Ewloe ward)
Ffynnongroyw Llanasa* (Ffynnongroyw ward)
Flint Castle Flint (town)* (Castle ward)
Flint Coleshill Flint (town)* (Coleshill ward)
Flint Oakenholt Flint (town)* (Oakenholt ward)
Flint Trelawny Flint (town)* (Trelawny ward)
Greenfield Holywell (town)* (Greenfield ward)
Gronant Llanasa* (Gronant ward)
Gwernaffield Gwernaffield*
Gwernymynydd
Halkyn Halkyn* (Halkyn, Rhesycae and Rhosesmor wards)
Hawarden Hawarden* (Hawarden ward)
Higher Kinnerton Higher Kinnerton*
Holywell Central Holywell (town)* (Central ward)
Holywell East Holywell (town)* (East ward)
Holywell West Holywell (town)* (West ward)
Hope Hope* (Hope ward)
Leeswood Leeswood*
Llanfynydd Llanfynydd*
Mancot Hawarden* (Mancot ward)
Mold Broncoed Mold (town)* (Broncoed ward)
Mold East Mold (town)* (East ward)
Mold South Mold (town)* (South ward)
Mold West Mold (town)* (West ward)
Mostyn Mostyn*
New Brighton Argoed* (New Brighton and West wards)
Northop Northop*
Northop Hall Northop Hall*
Penyffordd Penyffordd*
Queensferry Queensferry*
Saltney Mold Junction Saltney* (Mold Junction ward)
Saltney Stonebridge Saltney* (Stonebridge ward)
Sealand Sealand*
Shotton East Shotton (town)* (East ward)
Shotton Higher Shotton (town)* (Higher ward)
Shotton West Shotton (town)* (West ward)
Trelawnyd and Gwaenysgor
  • Trelawnyd and Gwaenysgor*
  • Llanasa* (Axton ward)
Treuddyn Treuddyn*
Whitford Whitford*

References

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  1. ^ "Appointment of new Chief Executive announced". Flintshire County Council. 3 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Council minutes, 14 May 2024". Flintshire County Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Mold's modernist masterpiece Shire Hall marks 50 years of civic service". Leader Live. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  4. ^ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 6 November 2022
  5. ^ "Local Government (Wales) Act 1994", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1994 c. 19, retrieved 30 October 2022
  6. ^ Pennar, Sion (18 May 2022). "Welsh local elections: Labour regain Flintshire council". BBC News. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  7. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  8. ^ "Council minutes". Flintshire County Council. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Council leader quits over health". BBC News. 5 October 2005. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  10. ^ "'Distinguished and wise' councillor dies". Daily Post. 28 November 2006. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Former council leader guilty of misconduct is suspended". Daily Post. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Council minutes, 9 April 2019" (PDF). Flintshire County Council. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  13. ^ Randall, Liam (31 July 2024). "Council leader quits amid bins controversy". BBC News. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  14. ^ Randall, Liam (14 May 2024). "Flintshire: Shock as five councillors quit Labour group". The Leader. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  15. ^ "Council report, 22 July 2024" (PDF). Flintshire County Council. p. 27. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Your councillors by political grouping". Flintshire County Council. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Flintshire". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Flintshire". The Elections Centre. 2 June 2015.
  19. ^ "The County of Flintshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1998", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1998/3140, retrieved 6 November 2022
  20. ^ a b "Flintshire County Council - BBC News". Bbc.co.uk. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  21. ^ a b "The County of Flintshire (Electoral Arrangements) (No. 2) Order 2021", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2021/1228, retrieved 6 November 2022
  22. ^ Rory Sheehan (5 May 2017). "Local Elections 2017: Labour keep tight grip on Flintshire County Council". The Leader. Flintshire. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  23. ^ Local Elections Archive Project - 2017 - Flintshire
  24. ^ "Council staff set to move into Ewloe office complex in October". Deeside.com. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  25. ^ Evans, Owen (21 May 2020). "Work to demolish part of County Hall in Mold gets underway". Daily Post. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  26. ^ "Council office addresses". Flintshire County Council. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
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