Huntingdonshire District Council

Huntingdonshire District Council is the local authority for the district of Huntingdonshire in Cambridgeshire, England. The council is based in the town of Huntingdon. The district also includes the towns of Godmanchester, Ramsey, St Ives and St Neots and surrounding rural areas. The district covers almost the same area as the historic county of Huntingdonshire, which had been abolished for administrative purposes in 1965, with some differences to the northern boundary with Peterborough.

Huntingdonshire District Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
Leadership
Chair	Douglas Dew, Liberal Democrat since 15 May 2025[1]
Leader	Sarah Conboy, Liberal Democrat since 18 May 2022
Chief Executive	Michelle Sacks since 2023[2]
Structure
Seats	52 councillors
Political groups	Administration (33)   Liberal Democrats (11)   Labour (4)   Green (1)   Independents (17) Opposition (19)   Conservatives (19)
Elections
Voting system	Plurality-at-large and first-past-the-post
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	7 May 2026
Meeting place
Pathfinder House, St Mary's Street, Huntingdon, PE29 3TN
Website
huntingdonshire.gov.uk

Ward map of Huntingdon District Council

Since 2017 the district has been a constituent member of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, led by the directly elected Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.^[3]

The neighbouring districts are Peterborough, Fenland, East Cambridgeshire, South Cambridgeshire, Central Bedfordshire, Bedford, and North Northamptonshire.

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The new district covered the area of eight former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:^[4]

• Huntingdon and Godmanchester Municipal Borough
• Huntingdon Rural District
• Norman Cross Rural District (except parts within the designated area for Peterborough New Town)
• Ramsey Urban District
• St Ives Municipal Borough
• St Ives Rural District
• St Neots Rural District
• St Neots Urban District

These eight districts had constituted the county of Huntingdonshire until 1965 when it had merged with the neighbouring Soke of Peterborough to form the short-lived county of Huntingdon and Peterborough. As part of the 1974 reforms the area became part of an enlarged Cambridgeshire. The new district was initially named Huntingdon after the former county town.^[5] The council changed the district's name from Huntingdon to Huntingdonshire in 1984.^[6]

Governance

Huntingdonshire District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Cambridgeshire County Council. The whole district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.^[7]

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since the 2022 election, being led by a coalition of the Liberal Democrats, Labour, Greens and independent councillors.^[8]

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:^[9][10]

Party in control		Years
	No overall control	1974–1976
	Conservative	1976–2022
	No overall control	2022–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2001 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Derek Holley[11]		Conservative	2001	7 Dec 2005
Ian Bates[12][13]		Conservative	7 Dec 2005	May 2011
Jason Ablewhite[14][15]		Conservative	18 May 2011	May 2016
Robin Howe[15][16]		Conservative	18 May 2016	Jul 2017
Graham Bull[17][18]		Conservative	26 Jul 2017	4 Dec 2019
Ryan Fuller[19][20]		Conservative	4 Dec 2019	May 2022
Sarah Conboy[21]		Liberal Democrats	18 May 2022

Composition

Following the 2022 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was:^[22]

Party		Councillors
	Conservative	19
	Liberal Democrats	11
	Labour	4
	Green	1
	Independent	17
Total		52

Ten of the independent councillors sit as the "HDC Independent Group", the other seven form the "Cambs Independent Group".^[a] The council's administration comprises all parties and groups except the Conservatives.^[24][25] The next election is due in 2026.^[22]

Elections

See also: Huntingdonshire District Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2018 the council has comprised 52 councillors elected from 26 wards. The whole council is elected together every four years.^[26]

Premises

The council is based at Pathfinder House on St Mary's Street in the centre of Huntingdon. The current building was completed in 2010, replacing the council's former headquarters of the same name on the site.^[27]