| Cheshire East | |
| Settlement Type: | Unitary authority area and borough |
| Motto: | Working together for excellence |
| Coordinates: | 53.146°N -2.367°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Sovereign state |
| Subdivision Name: | United Kingdom |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | England |
| Subdivision Type2: | Region |
| Subdivision Name2: | North West |
| Subdivision Type3: | Ceremonial county |
| Subdivision Name3: | Cheshire |
| Established Title: | Incorporated |
| Established Date: | 1 April 2009 |
| Seat Type: | Administrative HQ |
| Seat: | Westfields, Sandbach |
| Government Footnotes: | [1] |
| Government Type: | Unitary authority |
| Governing Body: | Cheshire East Council |
| Leader Title: | Executive |
| Leader Name: | Committee system |
| Leader Title1: | Control |
| Leader Title2: | Leader |
| Leader Name2: | Nick Mannion[2] |
| Leader Title3: | Mayor |
| Leader Name3: | Rod Fletcher |
| Leader Title4: | MPs |
| Area Rank: | |
| Population Rank: | |
| Demographics Type1: | Ethnicity (2021) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Ethnic groups |
| Demographics Type2: | Religion (2021) |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Religion |
| Timezone1: | GMT |
| Utc Offset1: | +0 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | BST |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | +1 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postcode areas |
| Area Code Type: | Dialling codes |
| Iso Code: | GB-CHE |
| Blank1 Name: | GSS code |
| Blank1 Info: | E06000049 |
Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council, which is based in the town of Sandbach. Other towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Congleton, Wilmslow, Nantwich, Poynton, Knutsford, Alsager, Bollington and Handforth.
The borough council was established in April 2009 as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, by virtue of an order under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.[3] It is an amalgamation of the former boroughs of Macclesfield, Congleton and Crewe and Nantwich, and includes the functions of the former Cheshire County Council. The residual part of the disaggregated former County Council, together with the other three former Cheshire borough councils (Chester City, Ellesmere Port & Neston and Vale Royal) were, similarly, amalgamated to create the new unitary council of Cheshire West and Chester.
Cheshire East has historic links to textile mills of the Industrial Revolution, such as seen at Quarry Bank Mill. It is also home to Tatton Park, a historic estate that hosts RHS Show Tatton Park.
Cheshire East lies within North West England. It borders Cheshire West and Chester to the west, Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east as well as Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. It is home to the Cheshire Plain and the southern hills of the Pennines. The local geology is mostly glacial clay, as well as glacial sands and gravel.
According to the Köppen climate classification, like most areas of the UK, the climate is classified as “oceanic” or "Cfb".
The population of Cheshire East was in .
According to the 2021 Census, ethnic white groups account for 94.4% of the population (376,543 people), with 5.6% of the population (22,229 people) being in ethnic groups other than white (Asian, Black, Mixed, Other).
A breakdown of religious groups:
See also: Cheshire East Council elections.
The 52 wards of Cheshire East are:[4]
| Constituency | Member of Parliament | Political party | Year first elected | Website | Parliamentary profile | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congleton | Sarah Russell | Labour Party | 2024 | Profile | |||
| Chester South and Eddisbury | Aphra Brandreth | Conservative Party | Profile | ||||
| Crewe and Nantwich | Connor Naismith | Labour Party | Profile | ||||
| Macclesfield | Tim Roca | Profile | |||||
| Mid Cheshire | Andrew Cooper | Profile | |||||
| Tatton | Esther McVey | Conservative Party | 2017 | Website | Profile | ||
| Election | 2008 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congleton | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | Ann Winterton | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | Fiona Bruce | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | ||||||||||
| Crewe and Nantwich | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | Edward Timpson | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | Laura Smith | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | Kieran Mullan | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | ||||||||
| Eddisbury | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | Stephen O'Brien | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | Antoinette Sandbach | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | Edward Timpson | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | ||||||||
| Macclesfield | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | Sir Nicholas Winterton | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | David Rutley | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | ||||||||||
| Tatton | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | George Osborne | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | Esther McVey | width=1px style="color:inherit;background-color: " | ||||||||||
At the last Cheshire County Council election in 2005 there were 15 Conservative controlled wards, 6 Labour controlled wards, 5 Liberal Democrat controlled wards and 1 ward controlled by an independent within the unitary authority boundaries.[5]
The first elections for Cheshire East Council took place on 1 May 2008, with the Conservative Party taking overall control. The Conservatives took 59 of the 81 seats with the others being held by the Liberal Democrats (12), Labour (6), 3 members of Middlewich First and one Independent.[6] The first leader of the authority was Wesley Fitzgerald who was elected at Cheshire East's inaugural meeting on 13 May 2008. Wesley Fitzgerald is a Councillor for the Wilmslow South ward. Having decided in February 2012 to step down, a leadership contest was triggered. Michael Jones – a relatively new councillor having been elected in the May 2011 elections – was elected as the Leader of the Conservative Group on 17 March 2012.
The administrative centre for Cheshire East Council is Westfields in Sandbach, the former Headquarters of Congleton Borough Council.[7] The site could be expanded if needed as there is space around the newly built centre.[8] Cheshire East is an observer member of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities of Greater Manchester, which borders Cheshire to the north.
The area is served by BBC North West and ITV Granada with television signals received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter.[9]
Radio stations for the area are:[10]
Motorways and primary routes in the borough which are maintained by National Highways (trunk roads de jure) include the M6, M56 and the A556. Other primary routes which are maintained by the council (principal roads de jure) include the A6, A34, A49, A50, A51, A54, A56, A500, A523, A525, A530, A534, A536, A537, A538, A555, A556, A5020 and A5033.
A556 Knutsford to Bowdon Improvement: A new five-mile four-lane dual-carriageway bypass of Bucklow Hill and Mere Crossroads on the A556 has been by Highways England at a cost of between £165-£221 million. The new road contains the first 'green bridge' wildlife crossing in the United Kingdom. The existing road has been narrowed to one lane in each direction and re-designated as the B5569 under the maintenance of Cheshire East Council.[11]
M6 Junctions 16-19: Smart Motorway: Highways England are preparing to convert the hard shoulder to a permanent running lane and introduce a variable speed limit along this section of the M6, meaning that it will become the first smart motorway in Cheshire. The scheme is expected to cost between £192-£274 million.[12] However, in Spring 2023 the Government abandoned all plans for further Smart Motorways to be constructed following concerns regarding their safety.
Crewe Green Link Road South: A dual-carriageway extension of Crewe Green Link Road is being constructed between the A5020 and Weston Gate Roundabout on the A500 by Cheshire East Council at a cost of £26.5 million.[13]
LED improvements: The Cheshire East Council, for multiple years now, has been investing in LEDs (light emitting diodes) as they are energy-efficient lights that are more likely to avoid sleepiness on the road as of their blue tint.
D&G bus is the primary operators of buses in cheshire east serving the county Monday to Saturday. Sunday services are limited to 84 Chester to Crewe operated by D&G bus, 3 crewe to hanley operated by First potteries and 58 operated by high peak Macclesfield to Chatsworth House via Buxton. Additional services are operated by Aimees travel, High Peak, Mikro coaches, Stagecoach Manchester, Warrington's own buses and Hollinshead coaches.
The area is home to a large number of sites of public interest:
The former borough of Macclesfield was twinned with Eckernförde, Germany.[26]
Congleton has been twinned with Trappes since 16 September 1962[27]
Twinning remains active in the Crewe and Nantwich area. The town of Crewe began twinning with the town of Mâcon in France in 1957. This continued when the borough of Crewe and Nantwich was formed in 1974. The borough added the town of Bischofsheim in Germany in 1991. In 2003 the administration of twinning was passed to CANTA, the Crewe and Nantwich Twinning Association, a voluntary association supported by the borough. The association immediately added Dzierżoniów in Poland as a Friendship Town. The association has received continuing support from Cheshire East after the borough became part of the new authority.[28]