Trafford Council

Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Template other Trafford Council, or Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford 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 2019. It is based at Trafford Town Hall in Stretford.

History

The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford 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 seven outgoing authorities, being the borough councils of Altrincham, Sale and Stretford, the urban district councils of Bowdon, Hale, and Urmston, and the Bucklow Rural District Council (in respect of four of its parishes only). 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. The council styles itself Trafford Council rather than its full formal name of Trafford 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 Trafford, 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 Trafford Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions.

Governance

Trafford Council provides metropolitan borough services. Some strategic functions in the area are provided by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority; the leader of Trafford Council sits on the combined authority as Trafford's representative. There are four civil parishes in the borough at Carrington, Dunham Massey, Partington and Warburton, 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 2019.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms took effect has been as follows:

Party in control		Years
REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || 1974–1986
REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || 1986–1988
REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || 1988–1995
REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || 1995–1996
REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || 1996–2003
REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || 2003–2004
REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || 2004–2018
REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || 2018–2019
REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || 2019–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Trafford. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Arthur Littler	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|1 April 1974 || align=right|22 May 1974
Frank Eadie	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|22 May 1974 || align=right|1975
Michael King	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|1975 || align=right|1976
Colin Warbrick	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|1976 || align=right|1977
Michael King	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|1977 || align=right|1978
Jonathan Taylor	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|1978 || align=right|1982
Michael King	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|1982 || align=right|1985
Colin Warbrick	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|1985 || align=right|1986
Barry Brotherton	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|1986 || align=right|1988
Colin Warbrick	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|1988 || align=right|1993
Frank Eadie	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|1993 || align=right|1995
Beverley Hughes	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|1995 || align=right|1997
David Acton	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|1997 || align=right|2004
Susan Williams	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|2004 || align=right|19 May 2009
Matthew Colledge	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|19 May 2009 || align=right|13 Mar 2014
Sean Anstee	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|13 Mar 2014 || align=right|23 May 2018
Andrew Western	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|23 May 2018 || align=right|4 Jan 2023
Tom Ross	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=right|4 Jan 2023 || align=right|

Composition

Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was:

Party		Councillors
REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=center|43
REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=center|8
REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=center|6
REDIRECT Template:Party name with color Template:Redirect category shell || align=center|6
Total		63

The next election is due in May 2026.

Elections

Template:Also Since the last boundary changes in 2023, the council has comprised 63 councillors representing 21 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.

Wards and councillors

Each ward is represented by three councillors.

Parliamentary constituency	Ward	Councillor	Party		Term of office
Altrincham & Sale West constituency	Altrincham	Geraldine Coggins	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Daniel Jerrome	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Michael Welton	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024–28
	Ashton upon Mersey	Shona Gilbert	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Ben Hartley	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Tony O'Brien	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Bowdon	Phil Eckersley	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Shengke Zhi	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Lisa Hancock	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Broadheath	Denise Western	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Amy Whyte	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Ulrich Savary	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Hale Barns & Timperley South	Dylan Butt	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Nathan Evans	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Michael Taylor	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Hale	Jane Leicester	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Hannah Spencer	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Owain Sutton	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Manor	Rob Duncan	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		John Holden	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Keleigh Glenton	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Timperley Central	Shaun Ennis	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Julian Newgrosh	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Simon Lepori	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Timperley North	Jane Brophy	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Will Frass	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Meena Minnis	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
Stretford & Urmston constituency	Bucklow-St. Martins	Frances Cosby	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Aidan Williams	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		James Wright	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Davyhulme	Sue Maitland	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Karina Carter	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Barry Winstanley	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Flixton	Ged Carter	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Dolores O'Sullivan	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Simon Thomas	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Gorse Hill & Cornbrook	David Acton	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Fianna Hornby	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		George Devlin	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Longford	Sarah Haughey	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Judith Lloyd	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Dave Jarman	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Lostock & Barton	Jill Axford	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Mike Cordingley	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Shirley Procter	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Old Trafford	Waseem Hassan	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Emma Hirst	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Sophie Taylor	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Stretford & Humphrey Park	Stephen Adshead	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Jane Slater	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Tom Ross	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Urmston	Joanne Harding	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Catherine Hynes	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Kevin Procter	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
Wythenshawe & Sale East constituency	Brooklands	Will Jones	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Rose Thompson	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Bilal Babar	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Sale Central	Barry Brotherton	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Eve Parker	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Zak Deakin	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28
	Sale Moor	Joanne Bennett	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–27
		Liz Patel	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2023–26
		Olly Baskerville	REDIRECT Template:Party name with color	2024-28

Premises

The council is based at Trafford Town Hall, on Talbot Road in Stretford. The building was originally called Stretford Town Hall, having been completed in 1933 for the former Stretford Borough Council, one of Trafford Council's predecessors. Most of the council's offices are in a modern extension to the rear of the building which opened in 2013, replacing an earlier office extension of 1983 on the same site.