# 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:
| Party in control | Years |
| Conservative | 1974–1979 |
| No overall control | 1979–1991 |
| Liberal Democrats | 1991–1999 |
| No overall control | 1999–2000 |
| Conservative | 2000–2002 |
| Liberal Democrats | 2002–2004 |
| No overall control | 2004–2010 |
| Liberal Democrats | 2010–present |

### 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:
| Councillor | Party | From | To |
| Andrew McKinlay | Liberal Democrats | 10 May 2002 | May 2006 |
| Duncan Smith | Conservative | 11 May 2006 | May 2008 |
| Steve Jordan | Liberal Democrats | 8 May 2008 | 7 Dec 2020 |
| Rowena Hay | Liberal Democrats | 7 Dec 2020 | |

### Composition

Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council is:
| Party | Party | Councillors |
| | Liberal Democrats | 36 |
| | Green | 3 |
| | People Against Bureaucracy | 1 |
| Total | Total | 40 |
The next election is due 7 May 2026.

## Premises

The council is based at the Municipal Offices on the Promenade. The building was built as a row of 19 terraced houses called Harward's Buildings between 1823 and 1840. Seven houses in the terrace were acquired by Cheltenham Borough Council in 1916 and converted to become their offices, with the other houses being acquired later.

## Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2024 the council has comprised 40 councillors representing 20 wards, with each ward electing two councillors. Elections are held in alternate years, with half the council (one councillor for each ward) being elected each time for a four-year term of office.

## Coat of arms

Cheltenham’s coat-of-arms were granted in 1877, and are still in use by the council.
| Armorial achievement | Blazon | References |
| | Crest Upon a mount between two branches of oak proper, a fountain thereon a pigeon proper. Escutcheon Or, a chevron engrailed gules between two pigeons argent in chief and an uprooted oak tree in base proper; atop, a chief azure under a cross flory argent between two open books proper binding. Motto SALUBRITAS ET ERUDITIO | |