Thurrock Council


Thurrock Council is the local council for the borough of Thurrock in Essex, England. Since 1997, Thurrock has been a unitary authority, combining the functions of a non-metropolitan county with that of a non-metropolitan district. The other such authority in Essex is Southend-on-Sea. It is a member of the East of England Local Government Association.

History

Thurrock District Council was first elected in 1973, a year before formally coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the Thurrock District on 1 April 1974. It replaced Thurrock Urban District Council, which governed a slightly larger area including part of Basildon New Town and had been formed in 1936 as an amalgamation of Grays Thurrock Urban District Council, Purfleet Urban District Council, Tilbury Urban District Council, and Orsett Rural District Council including associated parish councils; a result of the Local Government Act 1929. The council received borough status, permitting the council to be known as Thurrock Borough Council. Until 1998 it was constituted as non-metropolitan district council in a two-tier arrangement, sharing service provision with Essex County Council.
As a result of the 1992 Local Government Commission for England on 1 April 1998 Thurrock absorbed the powers of Essex County Council for its area, becoming a unitary authority. The planning function for large developments was exercised by the Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation in the whole of the borough from 2003 to 2012. The development corporation was absorbed by the council on 1 April 2012.

Election results and council control

Prior to the 2015 local election, the council was run by a Labour minority administration, after the Labour Party lost its small majority at the 2014 election. Thurrock had previously been a hung council for several years after the Conservatives lost control in 2007.
Since 1997 political control of the council has been held by the following parties:
All 17 UKIP councillors left the party in January 2018 to form Thurrock Independents.

Composition

Thurrock is divided into 20 wards and elects 49 councillors. One-third of the council is elected every year on a four-year term and so elections are held in three-year blocks Councillors are elected through first-past-the-post voting. There are 19 committees, including:
The borough's 20 electoral wards and corresponding representatives are:

Mayor

The Mayor is elected at the annual meeting which is held following council elections or in May in years when there are no council elections. The most recent mayors have been: