City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council

The town of Bradford had been governed by improvement commissioners from 1793.^[5] It was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1847, after which it was governed by a body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Bradford", generally known as the corporation or town council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Bradford was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services and so it was made a county borough, independent from the new West Riding County Council.^[6] The borough boundaries were enlarged several times between 1847 and 1974.^[7] Bradford was awarded city status in 1897, after which the corporation was also known as the city council. On 16 September 1907 the council was granted the right to appoint a lord mayor.^[8]

The modern metropolitan district and its council were in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The new district covered the whole area of eight former districts and parts of another two, which were all abolished at the same time:^[9]

Bradford's city status and lord mayoralty were transferred to the whole of the new district on the day the new system came into force.^[10] As such the council could call itself "Bradford City Council", which name is sometimes used for it in official documents and the media,^[11][12] but the council styles itself "City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council" instead.

Between 1974 and 1986 the council was a lower tier district-level authority, with county-level functions being provided by West Yorkshire County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986, with Bradford taking on the county council's former functions in the area.^[13]

In March 2006, the UK's Audit Commission issued a report "in the public interest" regarding concerns about the procurement process for the acquisition of an asset management system. The report identified weaknesses in the Council's programme management and procurement processes, which the Council accepted "without reservation".^[14]

In 2012 a referendum was held on whether to introduce a directly elected mayor for Bradford; the proposal was rejected, with 55% of the votes being against it.^[15] Since 2014 the council has been a constituent member of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.^[16] The combined authority has been led by the directly elected Mayor of West Yorkshire since 2021.

The council has been under No Overall Control since 2026.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms took effect has been as follows:^[17]

Since the last boundary changes in 2004 the council has comprised 90 councillors representing 30 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) being elected each time for a four year term of office.^[30]

The council meets at Bradford City Hall on Centenary Square in the city centre, which had been completed in 1873 for the old borough council.^[32] The council's main offices are nearby in Britannia House on Hall Ings.^[33]