Cheltenham Borough Council
Cheltenham Borough Council is the local authority for Cheltenham, a non-metropolitan district with borough status in Gloucestershire, England. The council is based at the Municipal Offices on the Promenade.
The neighbouring districts are Tewkesbury and Cotswold.
History
The town of Cheltenham was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1876, governed by a body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Cheltenham", but generally known as the corporation or town council. Prior to 1876 the town had been administered by a body of improvement commissioners which had been established in 1786.The borough was reformed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, becoming a non-metropolitan district and absorbing the area of the former Charlton Kings urban district at the same time. Cheltenham kept its borough status, allowing the council to take the name Cheltenham Borough Council and letting the chair of the council take the title of mayor, continuing Cheltenham's series of mayors dating back to 1876.
The borough was further enlarged in 1991 when it gained the parishes of Leckhampton, Prestbury, Swindon and Up Hatherley, all of which had previously been in Tewkesbury Borough.
Governance
Cheltenham Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Gloucestershire County Council. Parts of the borough are also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government. The rest of the borough, roughly corresponding to the pre-1974 municipal borough, is an unparished area.Political control
The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since 2010.Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:
Leadership
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Cheltenham. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2002 have been:Composition
Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council is:The next election is due in May 2026.