Cambridgeshire County Council
Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council for non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes the City of Peterborough. The county council consists of 61 councillors, representing 59 electoral divisions. The council is based at [New Shire Hall, Cambridge|Shire Hall, Alconbury Weald|New Shire Hall] in Alconbury Weald, near Huntingdon. It is part of the East of England Local Government Association and a constituent member of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.
Since May 2025, it has been run by a majority administration of Liberal Democrats.
History
Cambridgeshire County Council was first formed in 1889 as a result of the Local Government Act 1888 as one of two county councils covering Cambridgeshire; the other was the Isle of Ely County Council. In 1965, the two councils were merged to form Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely County Council.This arrangement lasted until 1974, when, following the Local Government Act 1972, Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely were merged with Huntingdon and Peterborough to form a new non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire under the control of a newly constituted Cambridgeshire County Council. The first elections to the new authority were in April 1973, and the council took office on 1 April 1974.
From its re-creation in 1974 until 1998, the county council administered the entire county of Cambridgeshire. In 1998, Peterborough City Council became a unitary authority, thus outside the area of the county council. For ceremonial, geographic, and certain administrative purposes, however, Peterborough continues to be associated with and work in collaboration with Cambridgeshire County Council. Since 2017, the council has been a constituent member of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, led by the directly-elected Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
The council is responsible for public services such as education, transport, highways, heritage, social care, libraries, trading standards, and waste management.
District councils
The county council is the upper-tier of local government, below which are five councils with responsibility for local services such as housing, planning applications, licensing, council tax collection and rubbish collection. The districts of Cambridgeshire are:- Cambridge City Council
- East Cambridgeshire District Council
- Fenland District Council
- Huntingdonshire District Council
- South Cambridgeshire District Council
Political control
Following the 2025 Cambridgeshire County Council election the Liberal Democrats won a majority of the council's seats.Political control of the county council since the reforms of the Local Government Act 1972 took effect on 1 April 1974 has been as follows:
Leadership
The leaders of the council since 1997 have been:Composition
Following the 2025 election, and subsequent changes of allegiance, includng a defection from Reform to Advance UK,the composition of the council is:On 16 October 2025, Des Watt left the Reform party to sit as a non aligned independent county councillor.
The next scheduled election is due on 3 May 2029.. Although this is unlikely to happen as Local Government Reorganisation means that the County Council will, in all probability, cease to exist on 1 April 2028.
Premises
Until 2021, the county council had its offices and meeting place in Cambridge, being based at different times at the Guildhall, County Hall, and Shire Hall.In 2021 the council vacated Shire Hall and left Cambridge, moving to New Shire Hall at Alconbury Weald in the parish of The Stukeleys, north-west of Huntingdon. The first committee meeting to be held at New Shire Hall was in September 2021. An official opening ceremony for New Shire Hall was held on 8 July 2022.