Gillingham Borough Council elections
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gillingham was a non-metropolitan district in Kent, England. It was abolished on 1 April 1998 and replaced by Medway.
The Borough of Gillingham was formed in 1903. In 1928, the adjoining parish of Rainham was added.
In 1944, a Medway Towns Joint Amalgamation Committee was formed by the borough corporations of Chatham, Gillingham and Rochester, to discuss the possibility of the towns forming a single county borough. In 1948, the Local Government Boundary Commission recommended that the area become a "most purposes" county borough, but the recommendation was not carried out.
Political control
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 1998 was as follows:[1]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| No overall control | 1974–1976 | |
| Conservative | 1976–1990 | |
| No overall control | 1990–1995 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 1995–1998 | |
Leadership
The leaders of the council from 1976 until its abolition in 1998 were:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Lewis[2] | Conservative | 1976 | May 1990 | |
| Bob Sayer[3] | Liberal Democrats | May 1990 | 31 Mar 1998 | |
