Wigan Council, or Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government services in the borough. The council has been a member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority since 2011.
The council has been under Labour majority control since the metropolitan borough was created in 1974. It meets at Wigan Town Hall and has its main offices at the adjoining Wigan Life Centre.
History
The town of Wigan was an ancient borough, having been granted a charter in 1246. From around 1350 the borough was led by a mayor. The borough was reformed to become a municipal borough under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country. It was then governed by a body formally called the 'mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Wigan', generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council.
When elected county councils were established in 1889, Wigan was considered large enough for its existing council to provide county-level services, and so it was made a county borough, independent from the new Lancashire County Council, whilst remaining part of the geographical county of Lancashire.
The larger Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and its council were created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as one of ten metropolitan districts within the new metropolitan county of Greater Manchester. The first election was held in 1973. For its first year the council acted as a shadow authority alongside the area's fourteen outgoing authorities, being the borough councils of Wigan and Leigh, the urban district councils of Abram, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Aspull, Atherton, Billinge and Winstanley, Golborne, Hindley, Ince-in-Makerfield, Orrell, Standish-with-Langtree, and Tyldesley, and the Wigan Rural District Council. The new metropolitan district and its council formally came into being on 1 April 1974, at which point the old districts and their councils were abolished.
The metropolitan district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Wigan's series of mayors dating back to the 14th century. The council styles itself Wigan Council rather than its full formal name of Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council.
From 1974 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the Greater Manchester County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to Greater Manchester's ten borough councils, including Wigan, with some services provided through joint committees.
Since 2011 the council has been a member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which has been led by the directly elected Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. The combined authority provides strategic leadership and co-ordination for certain functions across Greater Manchester, notably regarding transport and town planning, but Wigan Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions.
Governance Wigan Council provides metropolitan borough services. Some strategic functions in the area are provided by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority; the leader of Wigan Council sits on the combined authority as Wigan's representative. There are three civil parishes in the borough at Haigh, Shevington and Worthington which form an additional tier of local government for their areas; the rest of the borough is unparished.
Political control The council has been under Labour majority control since the 1974 reforms. (Put "Wigan" in search box to see specific results.)
PartyPeriod 1974–present
Leadership The role of Mayor of Wigan is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been:
Councillor Party From To Tom Hourigan 1 Apr 1974 Nov 1975 Bernard Coyle Jan 1976 May 1991 Peter Smith May 1991 May 2018 David Molyneux 23 May 2018 May 2026Nazia Rehman 27 May 2026 Incumbent
Composition Following the 2026 election, the composition of the council was:
The eight independent councillors (three of whom are supported by the Independent Network) sit together as the "Community Independent Alliance" group.
Elections
Since the last boundary changes in 2023, the council has comprised 75 councillors representing 25 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four-year term of office.
Cabinet The current composition of Wigan Council's Cabinet is as follows.
Party key
Post Party Councillor Ward Leader and Deputy Leader Leader And Cabinet Member for Finance Nazia RehmanAbram Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care Keith CunliffeLeigh Central and Higher Cabinet members Cabinet Member for Planning, Environmental Services and Transport Paul Terence Kenny Winstanley Cabinet Member for Children and Families Laura Flynn Aspull, New Springs & Whelley Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration Dane AndertonLeigh West Cabinet Member for Housing and Welfare Susan GamblesGolborne and Lowton West Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods Chris ReadyAspull, New Springs & Whelley Cabinet Member for Police, Crime and Civil Contingencies. Kevin AndersonLeigh South Lead Members Lead Member for Town Centres Yvonne Klieve Lowton West Lead Member for Armed Forces Martyn Smethurst Abram Lead Member for Housing and Communities Lawrence HuntWigan Central Lead Member for Residents and Environment Lee McsteinAtherton South and Lilford Lead Member for Women, Girls, Domestic Abuse and Equalities Eileen RigbyPemberton Lead Member for Digital, Resources and Comms. Paul MolynuexWorsley Mesnes Lead Member for Heritage and Culture Sheila RamsdaleWigan West
Wards and councillors The councillors as at September 2026 were:
WardPartyCouncillorTerm of office Abram David Bowker 2026-30 Nazia Rehman 2024-28 Martyn Smethurst 2023-27 Ashton-in-Makerfield South Kathy Morrill-Ashford 2026-30 Andrew Bullen 2024-28 Danny Fletcher 2023-27 Aspull, New Springs and Whelley Jo Meadows 2026-30 Laura Flynn 2024-28 Christopher Ready 2023-27 Astley Eileen Strathearn 2026-30 Barry John Taylor 2024-28 Christine Lillian Roberts 2023-27Atherton North Jamie Hodgkinson 2026-30 Paul Watson 2024-28 Stuart Andrew Gerrard 2023-27Atherton South and Lilford Martin Farrimond 2026-30 Lee McStein 2024-28 John Harding 2023-27 Bryn with Ashton-in-Makerfield North Robert Kenyon 2026-30 Scarlett Myler 2024-28 Steve Jones 2023-27 Douglas Matthew Lambert 2026-30 Matt Dawber 2024-28 Mary Callaghan 2023-27 Golborne and Lowton West Susan Frame 2026-30 Susan Gambles 2024-28 Yvonne Klieve 2023-27 Hindley Paul Manniex 2026-30 James Talbot 2024-28 Paul Blay 2023-27 Hindley Green Liam Clarke 2026-30 James Palmer 2024-28 Vacant 2026-27 Ince Gemma Painter 2026-30 Tony Whyte 2024-28 Maureen O'Bern 2023-27 Leigh Central and Higher Folds Tina Kennedy 2026-30 Fred Walker 2024-28 Keith Cunliffe 2023-27 Leigh South Leon Peters 2026-30 Charles Rigby 2024-28 Kevin Anderson 2023-27 Leigh West David Evans 2026-30 Sue Greensmith 2024-28 Dane Anderton 2023-27 Lowton East Simon Smith 2026-30 Mike Smith 2024-28 Jenny Gregory 2023-27 Orrell Paul Bannister 2026-30 Anne Collins 2024-28 Mark Tebbutt 2023-27 Pemberton Simon Silcock 2026-30 Eileen Winifred Rigby 2024-28 Jeanette Prescott 2023-27 Shevington with Lower Ground and Moor Lilian Rogers 2026-30 Vicky Galligan 2024-28 Paul Anthony Collins 2023-27 Standish with Langtree Michael Whalley 2026-30 Terry Mugan 2024-28 Debbie Parkinson 2023-27 Tyldesley and Mosley Common Adrian White 2026-30 James Fish 2024-28 Joanne Marshall 2023-27 Wigan Central Lee Moffitt 2026-30 Michael McLoughlin 2024-28 Lawrence Hunt 2023-27 Wigan West Sam Ashton 2026-30 Sheila Ramsdale 2024-28 Phyllis Cullen 2023-27 Winstanley Paul Forbes 2026-30 Clive William Morgan 2024-28 Paul Terence Kenny 2023-27 Worsley Mesnes Keith Whalley 2026-30 Paul Molyneux 2024-28 David Hurst 2023-27
Premises The council meets at Wigan Town Hall on Library Street, which had been built in 1903 as the Wigan Mining and Technical College. After the college moved to new premises, the building was converted into a town hall in 1990 to replace the Old Town Hall on King Street.
The council's main offices are at the Wigan Life Centre on The Wiend, a modern building completed in 2012 behind the retained façade of the former Municipal Buildings facing Hewlett Street and Library Street. The building also incorporates the town's library.
The old Wigan Borough Council had held its meetings at the Old Town Hall on King Street, which had been built as a courthouse in 1867 and had become the council's headquarters in 1882. By the 1950s the council had moved its main offices to the Municipal Buildings, being a converted row of shops and offices at the corner of Hewlett Street and Library Street, which had been built in 1900. Meetings continued to be held at the Old Town Hall until the new Town Hall opened in 1990. The offices were supplemented by the construction of the Civic Centre on Millgate in 1970. After the council consolidated its offices at the Wigan Life Centre and Town Hall, the Civic Centre closed in 2018.
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