Government of Leeds

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Leeds
Coat of Arms of the City Council
Motto: "Pro Rege et Lege" "For King and the law"
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Ceremonial county	West Yorkshire
Admin HQ	Leeds City Centre
Borough Charter	1207
Town Charter	1626
City status	1893
City of Leeds Met. District created	1974
Government
- Type	Metropolitan borough, City
- Governing body	Leeds City Council
- Lord Mayor	Cllr Frank Robinson
- Leader of Council	Cllr Andrew Carter
- Chief Executive	Paul Rogerson
- MPs:	John Battle (L) Hilary Benn (L) Colin Burgon (L) Colin Challen (L) Fabian Hamilton (L) George Mudie (L) Greg Mulholland (LD) Paul Truswell (L)
ISO 3166-2	GB-LDS
ONS code	00DA
NUTS 3	UKE42
Euro. Parlt. Const.	Yorkshire & the Humber
Website	www.leeds.gov.uk

Leeds is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. As the name suggests, it covers the city of Leeds, which encompasses the townships of Wetherby and Otley, as well as a wide area of Leeds commuter belt. The district has a population of 761,100 (2007 est.) and is a member of the English Core Cities Group.

The current city boundaries were set as part of the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, and cover an amalgamation of ten former local government districts from the West Riding of Yorkshire and the former politically independent City and County Borough of Leeds, all abolished in 1974. The cities of Bradford and Wakefield lie to the west and south respectively. To the southwest is Dewsbury and the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees; to the north is the county of North Yorkshire.

[edit] History and Geography

Prior to 1974, the borough of Leeds was governed by Leeds Corporation or the Corporation of Leeds, established by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The municipal borough of Leeds became a county borough with the Local Government Act 1888.^[1]

[edit] Former constituent parts of the City of Leeds

The City of Leeds metropolitan borough was formed in 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, from the areas of the former City and County Borough of Leeds and the ten surrounding boroughs and districts. The three rural districts of Wharfedale, Wetherby and Tadcaster in the north and east were split in the reform. The other former boroughs and districts that were merged into City of Leeds were those of Garforth, Rothwell and Morley in the south, Pudsey in the west, and Horsforth, Aireborough and Otley in the north-west.^[2]

The area that now forms the metropolitan district was part of the historical West Riding of Yorkshire, although when the Local Government Act 1888 established the administrative counties, the County Borough of Leeds and other county boroughs were excluded.^[3]

[edit] Leeds (former county borough)

Apart from Leeds City Centre and the adjacent Quarry Hill area, the areas in the section of the former County Borough of Leeds north of the River Aire include (working from west to east):

• Upstream in the Aire valley, between the river and (roughly) the railway line to Harrogate: Burley, Kirkstall and Hawksworth.
• Along the A660 road to Otley:
  • inside the ring road: Blenheim, Woodhouse (with the campus of Leeds University), Hyde Park, Headingley, Moor Grange, Beckett Park (with the campus of Leeds Metropolitan University), Far Headingley, Weetwood and West Park
  • outside the ring road: Ireland Wood, Lawnswood, Holt Park, Tinshill and Cookridge, all west of the A660.
• Between the A660 and the A61 road to Harrogate:
  • inside the ring road: Little London, Beck Hill, Miles Hill, Meanwood, and parts of Woodhouse, Headingley and Weetwood
  • outside the ring road towards Golden Acre Park and Eccup reservoir: Adel and Alwoodley
• Between the A61 and the A58 road to Wetherby:
  • inside the ring road: Potternewton, Scott Hall, Chapel Allerton, Chapeltown, Moor Allerton, Moortown, Gledhow, Oakwood and Roundhay with Roundhay Park
• outside the ring road: The eastern part of Alwoodley and Shadwell, a village near the A58.
• Between the A58 and the A64 road to York:
  • inside the ring road: Lovell Park, Burmantofts, Sheepscar, Harehills, Gipton, Killingbeck and Seacroft
  • outside the ring road: Whinmoor.
• South of the A64:
  • inside the ring road: Richmond Hill, East End Park, Wykebeck, Osmondthorpe, Halton Moor, Halton, Temple Newsam, Colton. Also Cross Gates (or Crossgates) and Whitkirk just inside the Ring Road.
  • outside the ring road: Swarcliffe, Manston and Pendas Fields.

The following areas on the southern side of the River Aire are also part of the former county borough:

• Rodley, Swinnow, Bramley, and Moorside between Pudsey and the river (or more exactly the Leeds and Liverpool Canal). Also Armley, Wortley, Farnley and New Farnley.
• Holbeck and Hunslet between the M621 motorway and the river, opposite the city centre. South of the city centre and outside the M621, Cross Flatts, Beeston, Cottingley, Belle Isle and Middleton.^{[citation needed]}

Boundary changes: The county borough initially consisted of the civil parishes of Chapel Allerton, Armley, Beeston, Bramley, Farnley, Headingley cum Burley, Holbeck, Hunslet, Leeds, Osmanthorpe, Potter Newton and Wortley. The borough was extended to include the rural parishes of Roundhay, Seacroft and Shadwell in 1912, Middleton in 1920 and Adel cum Eccup, Alwoodley and Templenewsham (including Thorpe Stapleton) in 1928.^[3]

[edit] Morley (former municipal borough)

Apart from the town of Morley, the Municipal Borough of Morley included Churwell (a separate Local Government District until 1891), East Ardsley (or Ardsley East), West Ardsley, Drighlington and Gildersome (urban districts absorbed by the borough in 1937). Morley was incorporated as a borough in 1885.^[3]

[edit] Pudsey (former municipal borough)

The market town of Pudsey, which is situated approximately halfway between Leeds and Bradford, includes Stanningley and the Fulneck Moravian Settlement. The town's first local government was the local board formed in 1872. This became an urban district in 1894 and received a charter of incorporation to become a borough in 1900. In 1937 the urban districts of Calverley and Farsley were absorbed by the Municipal Borough of Pudsey.^[3]

[edit] Horsforth, Aireborough and Otley (former urban districts)

• The former Horsforth Urban District lies south-east of Yeadon. The town of Horsforth is now a north-western suburb, separated from the city by the railway line to Harrogate and Moseley Beck, a tributary of the River Aire.

• The area of the former Aireborough Urban District lies between Otley and Pudsey. It was formed by the merger of three urban districts in 1937: Rawdon, Yeadon and Guiseley.^[3] They are situated between Otley in the north and Pudsey in the south, on the north side of the River Aire. The three settlements lie on a straight line connecting Horsforth in a north-west direction with Menston and Burley in Wharfedale (in the City of Bradford metropolitan district, but close to the border with North Yorkshire). This line roughly coincides with the Leeds–Harrogate railway line. Leeds Bradford International Airport lies on the north-east side of that line and is part of Yeadon.

• Otley is a market town in the extreme north-west of the metropolitan district, north of the former Aireborough district. Until 1866 the ancient parish of Otley included many of the neighbouring villages.^[3]

[edit] Wharfedale, Wetherby and Tadcaster (former rural districts)

When the City of Leeds metropolitan district was formed in 1974, each of the three rural districts to the north and northeast of Leeds was split.

• Arthington, Bramhope and Pool passed from Wharfedale Rural District to the City of Leeds.

• The market town of Wetherby and a large portion of the former Wetherby Rural District became part of the City of Leeds. This includes Bardsey cum Rigton, Boston Spa, Bramham, Clifford, Collingham, East Keswick, Harewood, Linton, Scarcroft, Thorner, Thorp Arch, Walton, and Wothersome.

• Much of Tadcaster Rural District, including Aberford, Austhorpe, Barwick-in-Elmet, Great Preston, Little Preston, Ledsham, Ledston, Lotherton-cum-Aberford, Micklefield, Mickletown, Parlington, Scholes, Sturton Grange and Swillington, has been part of the metropolitan district since the 1974 reform, but not the market town of Tadcaster.

The remainder of the former districts passed to the borough of Harrogate (Wharfedale, Wetherby) or the district of Selby (Tadcaster), both in North Yorkshire.

[edit] Garforth and Rothwell (former urban districts)

The Garforth urban district stretched southward from the town of Garforth (east of Leeds) to the north bank of the River Aire. It included Kippax and Allerton Bywater.

The urban district of Rothwell also included an area much larger than the town of Rothwell itself. Rothwell lies to the south-east of Leeds and is separated from the city by the M1 motorway. A local board was formed for the township of Rothwell, and in 1892 this was extended to include Carlton, Lofthouse and Thorpe, becoming an urban district in 1894. In 1937 Methley Urban District and the civil parishes of Oulton and Woodlesford (formerly in Hunslet Rural District, which was abolished) were absorbed by Rothwell.^[3]

[edit] Leeds City Council

Leeds Town Hall was used for civic functions until the building of Leeds Civic Hall, it now houses public events such as concerts

Leeds Civic Hall was built by the unemployed in the 1930s

Leeds City Council is the local government of the Leeds metropolitan district. The council is composed of 99 councillors, three for each of the city's wards. Elections are held three years out of four, on the first Thursday of May. One third of the councillors are elected, for a four year term, in each election. 2004 saw all seats up for election due to boundary changes.

It is currently under No Overall Control, and is run by a coalition of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Morley Borough Independents. The leaders of the Conservatives (Andrew Carter) and Liberal Democrats (Richard Brett) take turns to hold the office of Leader.

It was under No Overall Control (NOC) until 1976, when the Conservatives took control until 1979, when it returned to NOC. From 1980 to 2004 it was under Labour control.

[edit] Town and parish councils

Council Offices in Wetherby

There are 31 town or parish councils in Leeds, which form the lowest tier of local government.^[4] A map is available on the City Council website which shows their areas - mostly in the north and east of the city.^[5]

Morley, Otley and Wetherby have town councils and each have a town mayor. Horsforth has a town council but does not have a mayor.

The 27 parish councils are:

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Leeds City Council
• Horsforth Town Council
• Morley Town Council
• Otley Town Council
• Wetherby Town Council
• Leeds Labour website
• Leeds Liberal Democrats website

Coordinates: 53°47′59″N 1°32′57″W / 53.79972°N 1.54917°W / 53.79972; -1.54917