Huntingdonshire District Council
Introduction Ward map of Huntingdon 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.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.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:*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 DistrictThese 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. The council changed the district's name from Huntingdon to Huntingdonshire in 1984.
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.===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.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:Party in controlYears   1974–1976   1976–2022   2022–present===Leadership===The leaders of the council since 2001 have been: Councillor Party  From  To Derek Holley   2001 7 Dec 2005 Ian Bates   7 Dec 2005 May 2011 Jason Ablewhite   18 May 2011 May 2016 Robin Howe   18 May 2016 26 Jul 2017 Graham Bull   26 Jul 2017 4 Dec 2019 Ryan Fuller   4 Dec 2019 8 May 2022 Sarah Conboy   18 May 2022  ===Composition===The council consists of 52 councillors, representing 26 electoral wards. There is currently no party with a majority on the council. Since the elections of 2022 the council has been governed by a coalition of the Liberal Democrats, Independents, Labour, and Greens.Following the 2022 election, the council's composition was: Party Councillors Change  (from 2018 election)  22 −8  10 +3  11 +6  4 n/c St Neots Independent Group 4 −2  1 +1 Total 52 The next election is due in 2026.===Cabinet===Office  Party Name'''Leader, Place''' Sarah Conboy'''Deputy Leader, Planning''' Tom Sanderson'''Regeneration and Growth, Economy and Jobs''' Sam Wakeford'''Climate and Environment''' Lara Davenport-Ray'''Corporate and Shared Services''' Martin Hassall'''Customer and Transactional Services''' Stephen Ferguson'''Leisure, Waste and Street Scene'''St Neots Independent GroupSimone Taylor'''Finance and Resources'''Brett Mickelburgh'''Health and Community''' Ben Pitt===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.
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.
Parishes The whole district is divided into civil parishes. The parish councils for Godmanchester, Huntingdon, Ramsey, St Ives and St Neots take the style "town council". Some of the smaller parishes have a parish meeting rather than a parish council.
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