North Tyneside Council

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2011. It is based at Quadrant East in Cobalt Park, a large business park in the centre of the borough.

History

North Tyneside and its council were created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as one of five districts within the new metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear. The district covered the whole area of three former districts and parts of another two, which were all abolished at the same time:

Longbenton Urban District
Seaton Valley Urban District (Backworth, Earsdon and Shiremoor wards only, rest went to Blyth Valley)
Tynemouth County Borough (which included North Shields)
Wallsend Municipal Borough
Whitley Bay Municipal Borough (all except the Hartley and Seaton Sluice area, which went to Blyth Valley)

The whole area had been in Northumberland prior to the reforms; as a county borough, Tynemouth had been independent from Northumberland County Council but had been part of Northumberland for ceremonial purposes. The new district was granted borough status from its creation, allowing it to appoint a mayor.

North Tyneside Council initially provided district-level functions, with county-level functions being provided by Tyne and Wear County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986, after only twelve years in existence, and its functions passed to the area's five district councils.

In 2002 the council changed to having a directly elected mayor; prior to that the mayor had been a more ceremonial position.

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Governance

Since 1986 the council has provided both district-level and county-level functions, with some services being provided through joint arrangements with the other Tyne and Wear councils. In 2024 a combined authority was established covering North Tyneside, County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland, called the North East Mayoral Combined Authority. It is chaired by the directly elected Mayor of the North East and oversees the delivery of certain strategic functions across the area.

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2011.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership

Prior to 2002, political leadership was provided by the leader of the council. In 2002 the council changed to having a directly elected mayor. There have been periods where the mayor is of one party but the majority of the councillors are of another party.

The leaders from 1974 to 2002 were:

The mayors since 2002 have been:

Composition

Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council (excluding the elected mayor's seat) was:

The next election is due in May 2026.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2024 the council has comprised 60 councillors representing 20 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four-year term of office.

Premises

Since 2008 the council has been based at Quadrant East, a modern office building at Cobalt Park, a large business park in the centre of the borough. With an NE27 postcode, the building comes under the Newcastle upon Tyne post town, although the council itself quotes the address as "North Tyneside" (administratively accurate but not postally). The building is in the part of the borough which was the County Borough of Tynemouth prior to 1974.

Prior to 2008 the council's offices were in several locations across the borough. Meetings were held at Wallsend Town Hall.