Gloucestershire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire, in England. The council was created in 1889. The council's principal functions are county roads and rights of way, social services, education and libraries, but it also provides many other local government services in the area it covers. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, the latter additionally including South Gloucestershire. The council has been under no overall control since May 2024. Following the 2025 election a minority Liberal Democrat administration formed to run the council. It is based at Shire Hall in Gloucester.

The area administered by the county council comprises .

The current Gloucestershire County Council is planned to be abolished on 1 April 2028 and replaced by a new unitary authority Gloucestershire Council.

History Elected county councils were created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, taking over many administrative functions that had previously been performed by unelected magistrates at the Quarter Sessions. The cities of Bristol and Gloucester were both considered large enough to provide their own county-level services, so they became county boroughs, independent from the county council. The county council was elected by and provided services to the remainder of the county outside those two boroughs, which area was termed the administrative county.

The first elections were held in January 1889, and the council formally came into being on 1 April 1889, when it held its first official meeting at Shire Hall in Gloucester. The first chairman of the council was John Dorington, a Conservative, who was also the Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury at the time.

Local government was reformed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, which made Gloucestershire a non-metropolitan county. As part of the 1974 changes it ceded an area in the south of the county to the new county of Avon, but gained the former county borough of Gloucester. The lower tier of local government was rearranged at the same time, with the county being divided into six non-metropolitan districts.

Avon was abolished in 1996 and a new unitary authority called South Gloucestershire created, covering the area which had been ceded from the old administrative county of Gloucestershire to Avon in 1974. As a unitary authority South Gloucestershire is independent from Gloucestershire County Council, although it is classed as part of the wider ceremonial county of Gloucestershire for the purposes of lieutenancy.

As part of upcoming local government reform in England, the two-tier Gloucestershire councils are due to be replaced by either one or two unitary councils. In March 2026, the leaders of Gloucestershire County Council, and five district councils in Gloucestershire, wrote a letter to local government ministers outlining the ambition for a single Gloucestershire unitary authority, with the ambition for it to join the West of England Combined Authority.In August 2026, Mayor Helen Godwin outlined that the addition of Gloucestershire to the West of England Combined Authority was unlikely in the near future but would not rule it out, stating that presently it was not a focus of WECA. Godwin stated that expansion of WECA to North Somerset was an immediate priority. Other options considered previously by Gloucestershire councils include a Three Counties combined authority with Herefordshire and Worcestershire, or joining the proposed Thames Valley Combined Authority.

Unitary Gloucestershire Council

Gloucestershire Council is expected to be a English unitary authority for the local government district of Gloucestershire, replacing the existing Gloucestershire County Council and its constituent district councils as part of a move to phase out two-tier local government. It is planned to have a leader and cabinet model of government. It will have 110 councillors.

As part of the Starmer ministry local government reform, a goal of "simpler local government structures" was set out by the government, including a commitment to phase out two-tier local government structures.

The first election was set to take place on 6 May 2027, with the authority taking over local government responsibilities on 1 April 2028.

In September 2026, the Gloucestershire proposals were halted by the government and placed under review.

Political control The council has been under no overall control since a change of allegiance in May 2024. Following the 2025 election the Liberal Democrats were the largest party on the council, but were one seat short of a majority. They formed a minority administration with informal support from Labour (whose only councillor was made chairman of the council) and the Green Party.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows: (Put "Gloucestershire" in search box to see specific results.) Party in control Years 1974–2005 2005–2013 2013–2017 2017–2024 2024–present

Leadership The leaders of the council since 2001 have been:

Councillor Party From ToPeter Clarke 3 Sep 2001 Apr 2005 Apr 2005 May 2005 Barry Dare 18 May 2005 19 May 2010 Mark Hawthorne 19 May 2010 11 Sep 2024 Stephen Davies 11 Sep 2024 May 2025 Lisa Spivey 21 May 2025

Composition Following the 2025 election, and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to July 2026, the composition of the council was:

Party Councillors 27 9 9 6 1 1 2Total55

Premises The county council has its headquarters at Shire Hall on Westgate Street in Gloucester. The building had originally been built in 1816 as a courthouse and had served as the meeting place for the quarter sessions which preceded the county council. The county council then used the Shire Hall as its meeting place and built various extensions to accommodate its offices. Most of the building was demolished and rebuilt in the 1960s behind the retained façade of the 1816 building, with the reconstructed building being completed in 1970.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in May 2025, the council has comprised 55 councillors, each representing an electoral division. Elections are held every four years.

Notable members Thomas Davies, later member of parliament for Cirencester and TewkesburyF. W. S. Craig, British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services, 1983 edition), p. 359 David Drew (born 1952), later member of parliament for Stroud Sir Henry Elwes (born 1935), later Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire'ELWES, Sir Henry (William George)' in Who's Who 2013 (London: A & C Black, 2012) Julie Girling (born 1956), later a Member of the European Parliament for South West England'GIRLING, Julie McCulloch', in Who's Who 2014 (London: A. & C. Black, 2014); online edition by Oxford University Press, December 2013, accessed 17 January 2014 Margaret Hills (born 1882) first female councillor on Stroud Urban District Council and a suffragist. Nigel Jones (born 1948), later member of parliament for Cheltenham and a life peer

See also :Category:Councillors in Gloucestershire

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