It was formed in 1889 as the council for the administrative county of Northumberland and reformed, downsized in 1974 to cover the newly formed non-metropolitan county of Northumberland, which for the first time excluded the City of Newcastle upon Tyne conurbation. As part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England it became a unitary authority with the same boundaries, this disregarded the referendum held in 2005 in which the population voted against the forming of a unitary authority. Its elections have been in May 2008, 2013, and 2017 to be at four-yearly intervals, the expected length of office of each councillor. The next local election is expected in May 2021.
Naming of the new unitary authority
Throughout 2008, the people of Northumberland were consulted about the new name of the unitary authority. The choice was between having the name of the incumbent county council as the name for the new unitary authority – Northumberland County Council or whether a brand new name should be given – Northumberland Council. Online polls were held and the votes of staff within the former district councils were collated and overall, the name of the incumbent county council was preferred on a ratio of nearly 2:1. On 17 December 2008 it was decided that the new name would be Northumberland County Council. The chairman of the council stated that: Legally, however, the council remains the same body as at present, simply assuming the functions of the districts.
Following the election of May 2017, Northumberland County Council has no overall control, however the Conservative Party are the largest group on the Council being one seat short of an overall majority so form the council's current administration.
Following the election of 2017, Northumberland County Council has no overall control, with the Conservative Party being the largest group on the Council.
For Eurostat purposes the area under the jurisdiction of Northumberland County Council is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region.
