South Tyneside Council

South Tyneside Council is the local authority of for the metropolitan borough of South Tyneside in the ceremonial county of Tyne and Wear in North East England. It is one of five metropolitan boroughs in Tyne and Wear and one of 36 in England. It provides the majority of local government services in South Tyneside. The council has been under Labour majority control since 1979. It is based at South Shields Town Hall. The council is a constituent member of the North East Mayoral Combined Authority.

South Tyneside Council
Type
Type	Metropolitan borough
History
Founded	1 April 1974
Leadership
Mayor	Jay Potts, Labour since 13 May 2025[1]
Leader	Tracey Dixon, Labour since 14 January 2021
Chief Executive	Jonathan Tew since August 2021
Structure
Seats	54 councillors
Political groups	Administration (27)   Labour (27) Other parties (27)   Green (11)   Independent (16)
Elections
Last election	2 May 2024
Next election	7 May 2026
Meeting place
Town Hall, Westoe Road, South Shields, NE33 2RL
Website
www.southtyneside.gov.uk

History

South Tyneside was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as a metropolitan district within the new county of Tyne and Wear. The new district covered the area of four former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:^[2]

• Boldon Urban District
• Hebburn Urban District
• Jarrow Municipal Borough
• South Shields County Borough

Boldon, Hebburn and Jarrow had been lower-tier authorities subordinate to Durham County Council prior to the reforms. South Shields had been a self-governing county borough. The new district was named "South Tyneside" reflecting its position both relative to the River Tyne and within the Tyneside conurbation.^[3] The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.^[4]

Between 1974 and 1986 the council formed the lower tier of local government, with Tyne and Wear County Council providing county-level services to the area. The county council was abolished in 1986 under the Local Government Act 1985, since when South Tyneside Council has been responsible for all local government services.^[5]

Governance

Since 1986 the council has provided both district-level and county-level functions, with some services being provided through joint arrangements with the other Tyne and Wear councils. In 2024 a combined authority was established covering South Tyneside, County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland and Sunderland, called the North East Mayoral Combined Authority. It is chaired by the directly elected Mayor of the North East and oversees the delivery of certain strategic functions across the area.^{[6] [7]}

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since June 2025, following a change of allegiance which left Labour with exactly half the council's seats; they continue to run the council as a minority administration.^[8] Labour previously had a majority of the seats on the council from 1979 until 2025.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:^[9][10]

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1974–1978
	No overall control	1978–1979
	Labour	1979–2025
	No overall control[8]	2025–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in South Tyneside. Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1997 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Paul Waggott[11][12][13]		Labour	1997	May 2008
Iain Malcolm[14][15]		Labour	13 May 2008	17 Nov 2020
Tracey Dixon[16][17]		Labour	14 Jan 2021

Composition

Following the 2024 local election,^[18] and subsequent changes of allegiance up to June 2025, the composition of the council was:^[19]

Party		Councillors
	Labour	27
	Green	9
	Independent	18
Total		54

Of the independent councillors, twelve form the "South Tyneside Alliance" group, four form the "Real Independent Councillors" group, and the other two do not belong to a group. The next election is due in May 2026.^[19]

Premises

The council is based at the South Shields Town Hall, which had been completed in 1910 for the old South Shields Borough Council.^[20][21]

Elections

See also: South Tyneside Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2004, the council has comprised 54 councillors representing 18 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council elected each time.^[22]