{{Short description|Local authority for Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}} {{coord|51.900|-0.203|display=title|region:GB_scale:50000}} {{Infobox legislature | name = Stevenage Borough Council | coa_pic = | coa_res = | coa_alt = | coa_caption = | logo_pic = Stevenage Borough Council.svg | logo_caption = | logo_res = 240px | logo_alt = | house_type = [[Non-metropolitan district]] | foundation = | preceded_by = | leader1_type = [[Mayors in England|Mayor]] | leader1 = Lloyd Briscoe | party1 = <br/>[[Labour and Co-operative Party|Labour Co-op]] | election1 = 22 May 2026 | leader2_type = [[Leader of the Council|Leader]] | leader2 = Richard Henry | party2 = <br/>[[Labour and Co-operative Party|Labour Co-op]] | election2 = 1 January 2023 | leader3_type = [[Chief executive]] | leader3 = Tom Pike | party3 = <!--Non-political role--> | election3 = April 2025<ref>{{cite web |title=Tom Pike appointed new Chief Executive Officer |url=https://www.stevenage.gov.uk/news-and-events/news/tom-pike-appointed-new-chief-executive-officer |website=Stevenage Borough Council |access-date=26 May 2025 |date=23 January 2025}}</ref> | seats = 39 councillors<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stevenage.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/political-makeup|title = Political Makeup|access-date=18 May 2024|publisher=Stevenage Borough Council}}</ref> | structure1 = File:Stevenage Borough Council 19 May 2026.svg | structure1_res = 260 | structure1_alt = | political_groups1 = ; Administration (21) :{{Color box|{{Party color|Labour and Co-operative}}|border=darkgray}} [[Labour and Co-operative Party|Labour Co-op]] (19) :{{Color box|{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}|border=darkgray}} [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] (2) ;Other parties (18) :{{Color box|{{party color|Reform UK}}|border=darkgray}} [[Reform]] (10) :{{nowrap|{{Color box|{{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK, 2025)}}|border=darkgray}} [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] (6)}} :{{Color box|{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}|border=darkgray}} [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] (1) :{{Color box|{{party color|Independent}}|border=darkgray}} [[Independent politician|Independent]] (1) | committees1 = | joint_committees = | voting_system1 = [[Plurality voting system|First past the post]] | voting_system2 = | last_election1 = [[2026 Stevenage Borough Council election|7 May 2026]] | next_election1 = | session_room = Daneshill House.jpg | session_res = 250 | session_alt = | meeting_place = Daneshill House, Danestrete, Stevenage, SG1{{nbsp}}1HN | website = {{URL|http://www.stevenage.gov.uk}} | footnotes = | motto = }}
'''Stevenage Borough Council''' is the [[local authority]] for [[Stevenage]], a [[non-metropolitan district|local government district]] with [[Borough status in the United Kingdom|borough status]] in [[Hertfordshire]], England. The council has been under [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] majority control since 1974, and joint [[Co-operative Party]] control since 2026. It is based at Daneshill House on Danestrete.
==History== Stevenage's first elected council was a [[local board of health|local board]] established in 1873, prior to which the town had been administered by the parish [[vestry]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24022|page=4434|date=3 October 1873}}</ref> Such local boards were converted into [[Urban district (England and Wales)|urban district councils]] in 1894. The [[Local Government Act 1972]] reconstituted Stevenage Urban District as a [[non-metropolitan district]] with effect from 1 April 1974.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stevenage Urban District |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10089657 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=9 May 2023}}</ref> The district was awarded [[Borough status in the United Kingdom|borough status]] on the same date, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.<ref>{{cite web |title=District Councils and Boroughs |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1974/mar/28/district-councils-and-boroughs#S5CV0871P0_19740328_CWA_145 |website=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |access-date=4 December 2021 |date=28 March 1974}}</ref>
==Governance== Stevenage Borough Council provides [[non-metropolitan district|district-level]] services. [[Non-metropolitan county|County-level]] functions are provided by [[Hertfordshire County Council]]. There are no [[civil parish]]es in the borough.
===Political control=== The first elections to the borough council as reformed under the Local Government Act 1972 were held in 1973, initially acting as a shadow authority until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. The [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] has held a majority of the seats on the council since 1974:<ref name=electionscentre>{{cite web |title=Compositions Calculator |url=https://www.electionscentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/composition_calc.html |access-date=5 March 2025 |website=The Elections Centre |publisher=University of Exeter}} (Put "Stevenage" in search box to see specific results.)</ref>
{| class="wikitable" ! colspan=2|Party in control !! Years |- | {{Party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}} || 1974–2026 |- | {{Party name with colour|Labour and Co-operative}} || 2026–present |}
===Leadership=== The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Stevenage, and is usually held by a different councillor each year. Political leadership is instead provided by the [[leader of the council]]. The leaders since 1974 have been:
{| class=wikitable ! Councillor !! colspan=2|Party !! From !! To |- | Brian Hall<ref name=Hall1>{{cite news |title=End of an era |url=https://www.thecomet.net/news/end-of-an-era-7663660 |access-date=7 June 2022 |work=The Comet |date=25 May 2006}}</ref><ref name=Hall2>{{cite web |title=Mayors of Stevenage from 1974 |url=https://www.stevenage.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/mayor-of-stevenage/past-mayors-of-stevenage |website=Stevenage Borough Council |access-date=7 June 2022}}</ref> || {{Party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}} ||1974 ||23 May 2006 |- | [[Sharon Taylor (politician)|Sharon Taylor]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Council minutes, 23 May 2006 |url=https://democracy.stevenage.gov.uk/celistdocuments.aspx?MID=1184&DF=23%2f05%2f2006&A=1&R=0&F=embed$Minutes$.htm |website=Stevenage Borough Council |access-date=29 March 2025}}</ref><ref name=14Dec2022/> || {{Party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}} ||23 May 2006 || 31 Dec 2022 |- | Richard Henry<ref name=14Dec2022>{{cite web |title=Council minutes, 14 December 2022 |url=https://democracy.stevenage.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=150&MId=5418 |website=Stevenage Borough Council |access-date=29 March 2025}}</ref> || {{Party name with colour|Labour and Co-operative}} ||1 Jan 2023 ||present |}
===Composition=== Following the [[2026 Stevenage Borough Council election|2026 council elections]].<ref name="YourCouncillors20May26">{{cite web |title=Your Councillors |url=https://democracy.stevenage.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx |website=Stevenage Borough Council|access-date=20 May 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260519232337/https://democracy.stevenage.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1 |archive-date=19 May 2026 |language=en |date=19 May 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Mountney |first1=Dan |title=Stevenage local elections results 2026 |url=https://www.thecomet.net/news/26088858.stevenage-local-elections-results-2026/ |access-date=19 May 2026 |work=The Comet |date=8 May 2026 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=McEvoy |first1=Louise |title=Stevenage councillor quits Labour over 'issues not receiving attention' |url=https://www.thecomet.net/news/26117696.sarah-mead-stevenage-borough-council-labour-party-member-quits/ |access-date=19 May 2026 |work=The Comet |date=18 May 2026 |language=en}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" ! colspan=2| Party !! Councillors |- | {{Party name with colour|Labour and Co-operative}} || align=center|19 |- | {{Party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}} || align=center|2 |- |{{Party name with colour|Reform UK}} || align=center|10 |- | {{Party name with colour|Liberal Democrats (UK, 2025)}} || align=center|6 |- | {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}} || align=center|1 |- |{{Party name with colour|Independent}} || align=center|1 |- ! colspan=2| Total !! 39 |}
==Elections== {{main|Stevenage Borough Council elections}} Since the last ward boundary changes in 2024 the council has comprised 39 [[councillor]]s, with the borough being divided into 13 [[wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|wards]] each electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, electing one councillor from each ward each time to serve a four-year term of office. [[Hertfordshire County Council elections]] are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Stevenage (Electoral Changes) Order 2023|year=2023|number=653|access-date=24 May 2023}}</ref>
The wards are: {{div col|colwidth=22em}} * Almond Hill * Bandley Hill and Poplars * [[Bedwell, Hertfordshire|Bedwell]] * [[Chells]] * Longmeadow * Manor * Martins Wood * [[Old Town, Stevenage|Old Town]] * Roebuck * St Nicholas * [[Shephall]] * [[Symonds Green]] * Woodfield {{div col end}}
==Premises== The council is based at Daneshill House on Danestrete in the town centre. The building was built in 1961 for the development corporation which oversaw the development of Stevenage as a [[New Towns in the United Kingdom|New Town]] between 1946 and 1980. The building was bought by the council in 1980 when the development corporation was wound up.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cole |first1=Emily |last2=Harwood |first2=Elain |title=The New Town Centre, Stevenage, Hertfordshire: Architecture and Significance |date=2020 |publisher=Historic England |pages=118, 150 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/research/results/reports/8209/TheNewTownCentreStevenageHertfordshire_ArchitectureandSignificance |access-date=4 December 2021}}</ref>
==Arms== {{Infobox COA wide |image=Stevenage Coat of Arms.png |escutcheon = Argent on a mount in base point Vert an oak tree eradicated Proper fructed Or transfixed with a sword in bend sinister point downward also Proper hilt and pommel also Or and over all a fess Gules charged with six mullets of six points Gold. |crest = Out of a crown palisado Or a demi hart Proper its sinister fore leg resting upon a cogwheel Gold. |other_elements = Vert doubled Argent [[mantling]] |motto = The Heart Of A Town Lies In Its People.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://civicheraldry.co.uk/east_of_england.html |title=East of England Region |publisher=Civic Heraldry of England |accessdate=9 March 2021}}</ref> |notes = Originally granted to Stevenage Urban District Council on 10 March 1958.}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Councils in Hertfordshire}}
[[Category:Politics of Stevenage|Borough Council]] [[Category:Non-metropolitan district councils of England]] [[Category:Local authorities in Hertfordshire]] [[Category:Billing authorities in England]]