Stevenage Borough Council

51°54′00″N 0°12′11″W / 51.900°N 0.203°W / 51.900; -0.203

Stevenage Borough Council
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Lloyd Briscoe,
Labour
since 21 May 2026[1]
Richard Henry,
Labour
since 1 January 2023
Tom Pike
since April 2025[2]
Structure
Seats39 councillors[3]
Political groups
Administration (21)
  Labour (21)
Other parties (18)
  Reform (10)
  Liberal Democrats (6)
  Conservative (1)
  Independent (1)
Elections
First past the post
Last election
7 May 2026
Meeting place
Daneshill House, Danestrete, Stevenage, SG1 1HN
Website
www.stevenage.gov.uk

Stevenage Borough Council is the local authority for Stevenage, a local government district with borough status in Hertfordshire, England. The council has been under Labour majority control since 1974. It is based at Daneshill House on Danestrete.

History

Stevenage's first elected council was a local board established in 1873, prior to which the town had been administered by the parish vestry.[4] Such local boards were converted into 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.[5] The district was awarded borough status on the same date, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[6]

Governance

Stevenage Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level functions are provided by Hertfordshire County Council. There are no civil parishes 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 has held a majority of the seats on the council since 1974:[7]

Party in controlYears
Labour1974–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:

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Brian Hall[8][9]Labour197423 May 2006
Sharon Taylor[10][11]Labour23 May 200631 Dec 2022
Richard Henry[11]Labour1 Jan 2023present

Composition

Following the 2026 council elections.[12][13][14]

PartyCouncillors
Labour21
Reform10
Liberal Democrats6
Conservative1
Independent1
Total39

Elections

Since the last ward boundary changes in 2024 the council has comprised 39 councillors, with the borough being divided into 13 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.[15]

The wards are:

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 Town between 1946 and 1980. The building was bought by the council in 1980 when the development corporation was wound up.[16]

Arms

Coat of arms of Stevenage Borough Council
Notes
Originally granted to Stevenage Urban District Council on 10 March 1958.
Crest
Out of a crown palisado Or a demi hart Proper its sinister fore leg resting upon a cogwheel Gold.
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.
Motto
The Heart Of A Town Lies In Its People.[17]
Other elements
Vert doubled Argent mantling

References

  1. ↑ Day, Christopher (26 May 2026). "New Stevenage mayor Cllr Lloyd Briscoe pledges to preserve the past". The Comet. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  2. ↑ "Tom Pike appointed new Chief Executive Officer". Stevenage Borough Council. 23 January 2025. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  3. ↑ "Political Makeup". Stevenage Borough Council. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  4. ↑ "No. 24022". The London Gazette. 3 October 1873. p. 4434.
  5. ↑ "Stevenage Urban District". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  6. ↑ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1974. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  7. ↑ "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 5 March 2025. (Put "Stevenage" in search box to see specific results.)
  8. ↑ "End of an era". The Comet. 25 May 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  9. ↑ "Mayors of Stevenage from 1974". Stevenage Borough Council. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  10. ↑ "Council minutes, 23 May 2006". Stevenage Borough Council. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  11. 1 2 "Council minutes, 14 December 2022". Stevenage Borough Council. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  12. ↑ "Your Councillors". Stevenage Borough Council. 19 May 2026. Archived from the original on 19 May 2026. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  13. ↑ Mountney, Dan (8 May 2026). "Stevenage local elections results 2026". The Comet. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
  14. ↑ McEvoy, Louise (18 May 2026). "Stevenage councillor quits Labour over 'issues not receiving attention'". The Comet. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
  15. ↑ "The Stevenage (Electoral Changes) Order 2023", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2023/653, retrieved 24 May 2023
  16. ↑ Cole, Emily; Harwood, Elain (2020). The New Town Centre, Stevenage, Hertfordshire: Architecture and Significance. Historic England. pp. 118, 150. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  17. ↑ "East of England Region". Civic Heraldry of England. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
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