Bolton Council

The town of Bolton had been incorporated as a Municipal Borough in 1838, governed by a body formally called the 'Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Bolton', generally known as the Corporation, Town Council or Borough Council. When elected County Councils were established in 1889, Bolton was considered large enough for its existing Council to provide county-level services, and so it was made a County Borough, independent from the new Lancashire County Council, whilst remaining part of the geographical county of Lancashire.^[4]

The larger Metropolitan Borough of Bolton 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 eight outgoing authorities, being the Borough Councils of Bolton and Farnworth, and the Urban District Councils of Blackrod, Horwich, Kearsley, Little Lever, Westhoughton and Turton (the latter in respect of its more built up southern part only, the more rural northern part became the parish of North Turton in Blackburn district). 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.^[5]

The Metropolitan District was awarded Borough status from its creation, allowing the Chair of the Council to take the title of Mayor, continuing Bolton's series of Mayors dating back to 1838.^[6] The Council styles itself Bolton Council rather than its full formal name of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council.^[7]

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 Bolton, with some services provided through joint committees.^[8]

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 Bolton Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions.^[9][10]

Bolton Council provides Metropolitan Borough services. Some strategic functions in the area are provided by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority; the Leader of Bolton Council sits on the Combined Authority as Bolton's representative.^[11] Blackrod, Horwich and Westhoughton are civil parishes, each with a Town Council forming an additional tier of local government, the rest of the Borough is unparished.^[12]

Since the last boundary changes in 2023, 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.^[35]

There are 20 Wards, each represented by three Councillors.^[36]

The Council is based at Bolton Town Hall on Victoria Square in the centre of Bolton. The building was completed in 1873 for the old Bolton Borough Council.^[39][40]