| Trafford Council | |
| Coa Pic: | Trafford Council logo.svg |
| Coa Res: | 200 |
| Coa Alt: | Arms of Trafford Council |
| House Type: | Metropolitan borough council |
| Foundation: | 1 April 1974 |
| Leader1 Type: | Mayor |
| Leader1: | Amy Whyte |
| Party1: | Labour |
| Election1: | 22 May 2024[1] [2] |
| Leader2 Type: | Leader |
| Leader2: | Tom Ross |
| Party2: | Labour |
| Election2: | 17 December 2022[3] |
| Leader3 Type: | Chief Executive |
| Leader3: | Sara Todd |
| Election3: | 1 February 2019 |
| Seats: | 63 councillors |
| Structure1: | Trafford Couuncil 2024.svg |
| Structure1 Res: | 250 |
| Political Groups1: |
|
| Joint Committees: | Greater Manchester Combined Authority Greater Manchester Police, Fire and Crime Panel |
| Voting System1: | First-past-the-post |
| Last Election1: | 2 May 2024 |
| Next Election1: | 7 May 2026 |
| Session Room: | Stretford Town Hall - geograph.org.uk - 5295314.jpg |
| Meeting Place: | Trafford Town Hall, Talbot Road, Stretford, Manchester, M320TH |
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.
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.[4]
The metropolitan district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[5] The council styles itself Trafford Council rather than its full formal name of Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council.[6] [7]
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.[8]
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.[9] [10]
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.[11] 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.[12]
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:[13] [14]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| 1974–1986 | ||
| 1986–1988 | ||
| 1988–1995 | ||
| 1995–1996 | ||
| 1996–2003 | ||
| 2003–2004 | ||
| 2004–2018 | ||
| 2018–2019 | ||
| 2019–present | ||
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:[15]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raymond Littler | 1 April 1974 | 22 May 1974 | ||
| Frank Eadie | 22 May 1974 | 1975 | ||
| Michael King | 1975 | 1976 | ||
| Colin Warbrick | 1976 | 1977 | ||
| Michael King | 1977 | 1978 | ||
| Jonathan Taylor | 1978 | 1982 | ||
| Michael King | 1982 | 1985 | ||
| Colin Warbrick | 1985 | 1986 | ||
| Barry Brotherton | 1986 | 1988 | ||
| Colin Warbrick | 1988 | 1993 | ||
| Frank Eadie | 1993 | 1995 | ||
| 1995 | 1997 | |||
| David Acton | 1997 | 2004 | ||
| 2004 | 19 May 2009 | |||
| Matthew Colledge | 19 May 2009 | 13 Mar 2014 | ||
| 13 Mar 2014 | 23 May 2018 | |||
| 23 May 2018 | 4 Jan 2023 | |||
| 4 Jan 2023 | ||||
Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was:[16]
| Party | Councillors | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | |||
| 8 | |||
| 6 | |||
| 6 | |||
| Total | 63 | ||
The next election is due in May 2026.
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.[17]
Each ward is represented by three councillors.[18]
| Parliamentary constituency | Ward | Councillor | Party | Term of office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altrincham & Sale West constituency | Altrincham | Geraldine Coggins | 2023–27 | ||
| Daniel Jerrome | 2023–26 | ||||
| Michael Welton | 2024–28 | ||||
| Ashton upon Mersey | Shona Gilbert | 2023–27 | |||
| Ben Hartley | 2023–26 | ||||
| Tony O'Brien | 2024-28 | ||||
| Bowdon | Phil Eckersley | 2023–27 | |||
| Shengke Zhi | 2023–26 | ||||
| Lisa Hancock | 2024-28 | ||||
| Broadheath | Denise Western | 2023–27 | |||
| Amy Whyte | 2023–26 | ||||
| Ulrich Savary | 2024-28 | ||||
| Hale Barns & Timperley South | Dylan Butt | 2023–27 | |||
| Nathan Evans | 2023–26 | ||||
| Michael Taylor | 2024-28 | ||||
| Hale | Jane Leicester | 2023–27 | |||
| Hannah Spencer | 2023–26 | ||||
| Owain Sutton | 2024-28 | ||||
| Manor | Rob Duncan | 2023–27 | |||
| John Holden | 2023–26 | ||||
| Keleigh Glenton | 2024-28 | ||||
| Timperley Central | Shaun Ennis | 2023–27 | |||
| Julian Newgrosh | 2023–26 | ||||
| Simon Lepori | 2024-28 | ||||
| Timperley North | Jane Brophy | 2023–27 | |||
| Will Frass | 2023–26 | ||||
| Meena Minnis | 2024-28 | ||||
| Stretford & Urmston constituency | Bucklow-St. Martins | Frances Cosby | 2023–27 | ||
| Aidan Williams | 2023–26 | ||||
| James Wright | 2024-28 | ||||
| Davyhulme | Sue Maitland | 2023–27 | |||
| Karina Carter | 2023–26 | ||||
| Barry Winstanley | 2024-28 | ||||
| Flixton | Ged Carter | 2023–27 | |||
| Dolores O'Sullivan | 2023–26 | ||||
| Simon Thomas | 2024-28 | ||||
| Gorse Hill & Cornbrook | David Acton | 2023–27 | |||
| Fianna Hornby | 2023–26 | ||||
| George Devlin | 2024-28 | ||||
| Longford | Sarah Haughey | 2023–27 | |||
| Judith Lloyd | 2023–26 | ||||
| Dave Jarman | 2024-28 | ||||
| Lostock & Barton | Jill Axford | 2023–27 | |||
| Mike Cordingley | 2023–26 | ||||
| Shirley Procter | 2024-28 | ||||
| Old Trafford | Waseem Hassan | 2023–27 | |||
| Emma Hirst | 2023–26 | ||||
| Sophie Taylor | 2024-28 | ||||
| Stretford & Humphrey Park | Stephen Adshead | 2023–27 | |||
| Jane Slater | 2023–26 | ||||
| Tom Ross | 2024-28 | ||||
| Urmston | Joanne Harding | 2023–27 | |||
| Catherine Hynes | 2023–26 | ||||
| Kevin Procter | 2024-28 | ||||
| Wythenshawe & Sale East constituency | Brooklands | Will Jones | 2023–27 | ||
| Rose Thompson | 2023–26 | ||||
| Bilal Babar | 2024-28 | ||||
| Sale Central | Barry Brotherton | 2023–27 | |||
| Eve Parker | 2023–26 | ||||
| Zak Deakin | 2024-28 | ||||
| Sale Moor | Joanne Bennett | 2023–27 | |||
| Liz Patel | 2023–26 | ||||
| Olly Baskerville | 2024-28 | ||||
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.[19]