Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC), also known as Stockport Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport 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.

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
Type
Type	Metropolitan borough council
Leadership
Mayor	Kerry Waters, Labour since 20 May 2025[1]
Leader	Mark Roberts, Liberal Democrat since 20 May 2025[2]
Chief Executive	Michael Cullen since 2024[3]
Structure
Seats	63 councillors
Political groups	Administration (31)   Liberal Democrats (31) Other parties (32)   Labour (22)   Green (3)   Edgeley CA (3)   Heald Green Ratepayers (3)   Conservative (1)
Joint committees	Greater Manchester Combined Authority Greater Manchester Police, Fire and Crime Panel
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	2 May 2024
Next election	7 May 2026
Meeting place
Town Hall, Wellington Road South, Stockport, SK1 3XE
Website
stockport.gov.uk

The council has been under no overall control since 2011. Since 2022 it has been led by a Liberal Democrat minority administration. The council meets at Stockport Town Hall and has additional offices in the adjoining Stopford House and Fred Perry House.

History

Further information: County Borough of Stockport

The town of Stockport was an ancient borough, having been made a borough during the reign of Henry III (reigned 1216–1272). The original borough was entirely south of the River Mersey in Cheshire.^[4][5] The borough was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, at which point the boundaries were enlarged, with some of the gained area being on the north side of the Mersey in Lancashire; after 1836 the borough therefore straddled the two counties. The municipal borough was governed by a body formally called the 'mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Stockport', generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council.^[6][7]

When elected county councils were established in 1889, Stockport was considered large enough for its existing council to provide county-level services, and so it was made a county borough, independent from both Cheshire County Council and Lancashire County Council, whilst continuing to straddle the geographical counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. The borough boundaries were enlarged several times.^[8][9][10]

The larger Metropolitan Borough of Stockport 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 five outgoing authorities, being the borough council of Stockport and the urban district councils of Bredbury and Romiley, Cheadle and Gatley, Hazel Grove and Bramhall, and Marple. 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.^[11]

The metropolitan district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Stockport's series of mayors.^[12]

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, under the Local Government Act 1985, and its functions passed to Greater Manchester's 10 borough councils, including Stockport, with some services provided through joint committees.^[13]

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 Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions.^[14][15]

Governance

The council provides metropolitan borough services. Some strategic functions in the area are provided by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority; the leader of Stockport Council sits on the combined authority as Stockport's representative.^[16] There are no civil parishes in the borough.^[17]

Political control

Stockport has been under no overall control since 2011. Following the 2022 election a Liberal Democrat minority administration formed to run the council,^[18] remaining in post after both the 2023 and 2024 elections too.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms took effect has been as follows:^[19][20]

Party in control		Years
	No overall control	1974–1975
	Conservative	1975–1983
	No overall control	1983–1999
	Liberal Democrats	1999–2000
	No overall control	2000–2002
	Liberal Democrats	2002–2011
	No overall control	2011–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Stockport. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been:^[21]

Councillor	Party		From	To
Walter Knight[22][23][24]		Conservative	1 Apr 1974	26 Dec 1976
John Howe[25][26]		Conservative	Jan 1977	May 1978
John Lloyd[26][27]		Conservative	May 1978	May 1984
(no leader)[27][28][a]			May 1984	14 May 1996
Fred Ridley[28][33]		Liberal Democrats	14 May 1996	May 2002
Mark Hunter[34][35]		Liberal Democrats	14 May 2002	18 Aug 2005
Brian Millard[35][36]		Liberal Democrats	18 Aug 2005	22 May 2007
Dave Goddard[37][38]		Liberal Democrats	22 May 2007	May 2012
Sue Derbyshire[39][40]		Liberal Democrats	22 May 2012	May 2016
Alex Ganotis[41][42]		Labour	24 May 2016	21 May 2019
Elise Wilson[43][44]		Labour	21 May 2019	19 May 2022
Mark Hunter[45][46]		Liberal Democrats	19 May 2022	20 May 2025
Mark Roberts[1]		Liberal Democrats	20 May 2025	incumbent

Composition

Following the 2024 election,^[47] and subsequent changes of allegiance up to February 2025 the composition of the council was:^[48]

Party		Councillors
	Liberal Democrats	30
	Labour	21
	Edgeley Community Association	3
	Green	3
	Conservative	1
	Independent	5
Total		63

The Edgeley Community Association and two of the independent councillors sit together as the "Stockport Community Group". The other three independent councillors sit together as the 'Independent Ratepayers Group'; those three are all sponsored by the Heald Green Ratepayers, which is not formally registered as a political party.^[49][50] The next election is due in May 2026.^[48]

Elections

See also: Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council elections

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.^[51]

Wards and councillors

Ward	Councillor	Party		Term of office
Bramhall North	Mark Jones		Liberal Democrats	2023–27
	Suzanne Wyatt		Liberal Democrats	2023–26
	Alex Wynne		Liberal Democrats	2024–28
Bramhall South and Woodford	Peter Crossen		Conservative	2024–27[b]
	Dallas Jones		Liberal Democrats	2023–26
	Jeremy Meal		Liberal Democrats	2024–28
Bredbury and Woodley	Joe Barratt		Labour	2023–27
	Sue Thorpe		Liberal Democrats	2023–26
	Rosemary Barratt		Labour	2024–28
Bredbury Green and Romiley	Rachel Bresnahan		Liberal Democrats	2024–27[b]
	Angie Clark		Liberal Democrats	2023–26
	Mark Roberts		Liberal Democrats	2024–28
Brinnington and Stockport Central	Christine Carrigan		Labour Co-op	2023–27
	Kerry Waters		Labour	2023–26
	Karl Wardlaw		Labour	2024–28
Cheadle East and Cheadle Hulme North	David Meller		Labour Co-op	2023–27
	Jilly Julian		Liberal Democrats	2023–26
	Mike Newman		Liberal Democrats	2024–28
Cheadle Hulme South	Mark Hunter		Liberal Democrats	2023–27
	Helen Foster-Grime		Liberal Democrats	2023–26
	Keith Holloway		Liberal Democrats	2024–28
Cheadle West and Gatley	Clive Greenhalgh		Liberal Democrats	2023–27
	Ian Hunter		Liberal Democrats	2023–26
	Huma Khan		Liberal Democrats	2024–28[b]
Davenport and Cale Green	Dickie Davies		Labour	2023–27
	Wendy Wild		Labour	2023–26
	Paul Wright		Labour	2024–28
Edgeley	Matt Wynne		Community Association	2023–27
	Leah Taylor		Community Association	2023–26
	Asa Caton		Community Association	2024–28
Hazel Grove	Jake Austin		Liberal Democrats	2023–27
	Wendy Meikle		Liberal Democrats	2023–26
	Frankie Singleton		Liberal Democrats	2024–28
Heald Green	Carole McCann		Heald Green Ratepayers	2023–27
	Ana Charles-Jones		Heald Green Ratepayers	2023–26
	Catherine Stuart		Heald Green Ratepayers	2024–28
Heatons North	David Sedgwick		Labour	2023–27
	John Taylor		Labour	2023–26
	Dena Ryness		Labour Co-op	2024–28
Heatons South	Colin Foster		Labour	2023–27
	Dean Fitzpatrick		Labour	2023–26
	Claire Vibert		Labour Co-op	2024–28
Manor	Laura Clingan		Labour	2023–27
	Sue Glithero		Labour	2023–26
	Jon Byrne		Labour	2024–28
Marple North	Steve Gribbon		Liberal Democrats	2023–27
	Geoff Abell		Liberal Democrats	2023–26
	Micheala Meikle		Liberal Democrats	2024–28
Marple South and High Lane	Shan Alexander		Liberal Democrats	2023–27
	Aron Thornley		Labour[c]	2023–26
	Colin MacAlister		Liberal Democrats	2024–28
Norbury and Woodsmoor	Grace Baynham		Liberal Democrats	2023–27
	Dominic Hardwick		Liberal Democrats	2023–26
	Pete West		Liberal Democrats	2024–28
Offerton	Will Dawson		Liberal Democrats	2023–27
	Helen Hibbert		Labour	2023–26
	Dan Oliver		Liberal Democrats	2024–28
Reddish North	David Wilson		Labour	2023–27
	Holly McCormack		Labour	2023–26
	Rachel Wise		Labour Co-op	2024–28
Reddish South	Liz Crix		Green	2023–27
	Gary Lawson		Green	2023–26
	James Frizzell		Green	2024–28

Structure

The council uses a leader and cabinet system. There are eight cabinet members, including the leader of the council; each has a separate portfolio containing responsibilities for different services and areas of the council. There are also six scrutiny committees which scrutinise decisions made by the cabinet. The cabinet of the consists of eight councillors:^[52]

• Leader of the Council: Mark Roberts
• Finance and Resources: Jilly Julian (Deputy leader)
• Housing and Environment: Jake Austin
• Parks, Highways & Transport Services: Grace Baynham
• Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care: Helen Foster-Grime
• Economy, Regeneration & Skills: Micheala Meikle
• Children, Families & Education: Wendy Meikle
• Communities, Culture & Public Protection: Dan Oliver

Premises

Stopford House, Piccadilly, Stockport, SK1 3XE: Council offices, incorporating the main public reception

Fred Perry House, Edward Street

Full council meetings are held at Stockport Town Hall on Wellington Road South, which had been completed in 1908 for the old Stockport Borough Council.^[53] An additional office block called Stopford House was built on Piccadilly (backing onto the Town Hall) in 1975.^[54] Another adjoining office building called Fred Perry House on Edward Street was completed in 2011, named after tennis player Fred Perry (1909–1995) who was from Stockport.^[55][56]