# Rochdale Borough Council

Rochdale Borough Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government services in the borough. The council has been a member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority since 2011.
The council has been under Labour majority control since 2011. It is based at Number One Riverside.

## History

The town of Rochdale had been governed by improvement commissioners from 1825. In 1856 the town was incorporated as a municipal borough, governed by a body formally called the 'mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Rochdale', generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Rochdale was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services, and so it became a county borough, independent from the new Lancashire County Council, whilst remaining part of the geographical county of Lancashire.
The larger Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale and its council were created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as one of ten metropolitan districts within the new metropolitan county of Greater Manchester. The first election was held in 1973. For its first year the council acted as a shadow authority alongside the area's six outgoing authorities, being the borough councils of Rochdale, Heywood and Middleton and the urban district councils of Littleborough, Milnrow and Wardle. The new metropolitan district and its council formally came into being on 1 April 1974, at which point the old districts and their councils were abolished.
The metropolitan district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Rochdale's series of mayors dating back to 1856. The council styles itself Rochdale Borough Council rather than its full formal name of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council.
From 1974 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the Greater Manchester County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to Greater Manchester's ten borough councils, including Rochdale, with some services provided through joint committees.
Since 2011 the council has been a member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which has been led by the directly elected Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. The combined authority provides strategic leadership and co-ordination for certain functions across Greater Manchester, notably regarding transport and town planning, but Rochdale Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions.

## Governance

Rochdale Borough Council provides metropolitan borough services. Some strategic functions in the area are provided by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority; the leader of Rochdale Council sits on the combined authority as Rochdale's representative. There are no civil parishes in the borough.

### Political control

Rochdale has been under Labour majority control since 2011.
Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms took effect has been as follows:
| Party in control | Years |
| Labour | 1974–1975 |
| No overall control | 1975–1976 |
| Conservative | 1976–1979 |
| No overall control | 1979–1980 |
| Labour | 1980–1982 |
| No overall control | 1982–1986 |
| Labour | 1986–1992 |
| No overall control | 1992–1996 |
| Labour | 1996–2003 |
| No overall control | 2003–2007 |
| Liberal Democrats | 2007–2010 |
| No overall control | 2010–2011 |
| Labour | 2011–present |

### Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Rochdale. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2006 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To |
| Alan Taylor | Liberal Democrats | 2006 | 13 Jan 2010 |
| Irene Davidson | Liberal Democrats | 13 Jan 2010 | 24 Nov 2010 |
| Colin Lambert | Labour | 15 Dec 2010 | 4 Jun 2014 |
| Richard Farnell | Labour | 4 Jun 2014 | 8 Dec 2017 |
| Allen Brett | Labour | 13 Dec 2017 | 19 May 2021 |
| Neil Emmott | Labour | 19 May 2021 | |

### Composition

Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was:
| Party | Party | Councillors |
| | Labour | 44 |
| | Conservative | 9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | 3 |
| | Middleton Independents Party | 2 |
| | Workers Party | 2 |
| Total | Total | 60 |
The next election is due in May 2026.

## Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2022, 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.

## Wards and councillors

Each ward of the council's 20 wards is represented by three councillors.
| Ward | Councillor | Party | Term of office |
| Bamford | Stephen Anstee | Conservative | 2021–27 |
| Bamford | Angela Smith | Conservative | 2018–26 |
| Bamford | Philip Beal | Conservative | 2024-28 |
| Balderstone and Kirkholt | Elsie Blundell | Labour | 2019–27 |
| Balderstone and Kirkholt | Phillip Massey | Labour | 2021–26 |
| Balderstone and Kirkholt | Daniel Meredith | Labour | 2024-28 |
| Castleton | Aisling-Blaise Gallagher | Labour | 2024-28 |
| Castleton | Aasim Rashid | Labour | 2018–27 |
| Castleton | Billy Sheerin | Labour | 2021–26 |
| Central Rochdale | Farooq Ahmed | Workers Party | 2024-28 |
| Central Rochdale | Iftikhar Ahmed | Labour | 2021–26 |
| Central Rochdale | Sameena Zaheer | Labour | 2023–27 |
| East Middleton | Paul Beswick | Middleton Ind. | 2022–26 |
| East Middleton | Terry Smith | Labour | 2023–27 |
| East Middleton | Dylan James Williams | Labour | 2024–28 |
| Healey | Tricia Ayrton | Labour | 2022–27 |
| Healey | Shaun O'Neill | Labour | 2021–26 |
| Healey | Shah Wazir | Labour | 2024-28 |
| Hopwood Hall | Susan Emmott | Labour | 2019–24 |
| Hopwood Hall | Peter Hodgkinson | Labour | 2022–27 |
| Hopwood Hall | Carol Wardle | Labour | 2018–24 |
| Kingsway | Shakil Ahmed | Labour | 2021–26 |
| Kingsway | Daalat Ali | Labour | 2024-28 |
| Kingsway | Rachel Massey | Labour | 2019–27 |
| Littleborough Lakeside | Tom Besford | Labour | 2024-28 |
| Littleborough Lakeside | Janet Emsley | Labour | 2018–26 |
| Littleborough Lakeside | Richard Jackson | Labour | 2023–27 |
| Milkstone and Deeplish | Mohammad Arshad | Labour | 2022–26 |
| Milkstone and Deeplish | Minaam Ellahi | Workers Party | 2024-28 |
| Milkstone and Deeplish | Aiza Rashid | Labour | 2022–27 |
| Milnrow and Newhey | David Bamford | Liberal Democrats | 2018–27 |
| Milnrow and Newhey | Irene Davidson | Liberal Democrats | 2021–26 |
| Milnrow and Newhey | Andy Kelly | Liberal Democrats | 2024-28 |
| Norden | James Gartside | Conservative | 2021–26 |
| Norden | Michael Holly | Conservative | 2018–27 |
| Norden | Peter Winkler | Conservative | 2024-28 |
| North Heywood | Liam O'Rourke | Labour | 2021–26 |
| North Heywood | Bev Place | Labour | 2022–27 |
| North Heywood | Paul O'Neill | Labour | 2024-28 |
| North Middleton | Peter Allonby | Middleton Ind. | 2022–26 |
| North Middleton | Elizabeth Atewologun | Labour | 2023–27 |
| North Middleton | Kath Bromfield | Labour | 2024-28 |
| Smallbridge and Firgrove | John Blundell | Labour | 2024-28 |
| Smallbridge and Firgrove | Aftab Hussain | Labour | 2019–26 |
| Smallbridge and Firgrove | Amna Mir | Labour | 2021–23 |
| South Middleton | Patricia Mary Dale | Labour | 2018–27 |
| South Middleton | June West | Labour | 2024-28 |
| South Middleton | Peter Williams | Labour | 2019–26 |
| Spotland and Falinge | Iram Faisal | Labour | 2021–26 |
| Spotland and Falinge | Amber Nisa | Labour | 2022–27 |
| Spotland and Falinge | Faisal Rana | Labour | 2024-28 |
| Wardle, Shore & West Littleborough | Ashley Dearnley | Conservative | 2021–26 |
| Wardle, Shore & West Littleborough | Adam Branton | Conservative | 2024-28 |
| Wardle, Shore & West Littleborough | John Taylor | Conservative | 2018–27 |
| West Heywood | Angela Brown | Labour | 2022–26 |
| West Heywood | Peter Joinson | Labour | 2022-28 |
| West Heywood | Linda Robinson | Labour | 2023–27 |
| West Middleton | Phil Burke | Labour | 2019–26 |
| West Middleton | Neil Emmott | Labour | 2018–27 |
| West Middleton | Susan Smith | Labour | 2024-28 |

## Premises

The council is based at Number One Riverside on Smith Street in the centre of Rochdale. It was purpose-built for the council and opened in 2013. Prior to 2013 the council met and had some offices at Rochdale Town Hall, which had been completed in 1871 for the old borough council, with additional offices spread across numerous other buildings. The Town Hall is still used for certain ceremonial functions, including the annual council meeting when new mayors are appointed.