Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, also known as Tameside Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside 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 no overall control since the 2026 election, having previously been under Labour majority control since 1979. It is based at Tameside One in Ashton-under-Lyne.

History The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside 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 nine outgoing authorities, being the borough councils of Ashton-under-Lyne, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge, and the urban district councils of Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden and Longdendale. 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.

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 Tameside, 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 Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions.

The council was documented in the 2014 BBC Television series Call the Council, which showed its workers carrying out their duties.

Tameside duty of inquiry A legal principle known as the Tameside duty of inquiry derives its name from the 1976 judgement by the House of Lords in the case of Secretary of State for Education and Science v Tameside MBC. It is "commonly described as a duty to make sufficient or due inquiry". ...the duty requires the decision-maker to have "(asked) himself the right question and take reasonable steps to acquaint himself with the relevant information to enable him to answer it correctly" - Lord Diplock

Governance The council provides metropolitan borough services. Some strategic functions in the area are provided by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority; the leader of Tameside Council sits on the combined authority as Tameside's representative. There is one civil parish in the borough at Mossley, which forms an additional tier of local government for that area; the rest of the borough is unparished.

Political control The council has been under Labour majority control since 1979.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms took effect has been as follows: (Put "Tameside" in search box to see specific results.)

Party in control Years 1974–1976 1976–1979 1979–present

Leadership The council splits the functions usually exercised by a mayor into two roles: a 'civic mayor' who acts as a ceremonial figurehead and represents the council at civic functions, and a 'chair of council business' who presides at council meetings. Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council, now also called the 'executive leader'. The leaders since 1974 have been:

Councillor Party From To Percy Travis 1 Apr 1974 May 1976 Colin Grantham May 1976 May 1979 George Newton May 1979 May 1980 Roy Oldham May 1980 25 May 2010 Kieran Quinn 25 May 2010 25 Dec 2017 Brenda Warrington 31 Jan 2018 16 May 2022 Ged Cooney 24 May 2022 10 Oct 2024 Eleanor Wills 24 Oct 2024 incumbent

Composition Following the 2026 election, the composition of the council was:

Four of the independent councillors sit together as the "Independent Group". The next election is due in May 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023, the council has comprised 57 councillors representing 19 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.

Premises The council has its headquarters at Tameside One, which also includes a library and part of Tameside College. The building was completed in 2019.

The council's former offices, known as the Tameside Administrative Centre, had been built on the same site in 1981. That building was demolished in 2016 to make way for Tameside One. The site is immediately behind Ashton Town Hall, one of the buildings inherited from the council's predecessors.

The annual council meeting when new civic mayors are appointed is usually held at Dukinfield Town Hall.

Coat of arms

References

External links