Rutland County Council

First incarnation

Elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, taking over administrative functions that had previously been performed by unelected magistrates at the quarter sessions. The first elections were held in January 1889 and Rutland County Council formally came into being on 1 April 1889.^[4]

On that day it held its first official meeting at Oakham Castle, the 12th century castle which served as the county's courthouse and had been the meeting place of the quarter sessions which preceded the county council. Charles Noel, 3rd Earl of Gainsborough, a Conservative peer, was appointed as the first chairman of the council.^[5]

From 1894 there was also a lower tier of local government in the county, comprising three rural districts: Ketton Rural District, Oakham Rural District and Uppingham Rural District. A fourth district was created in 1911 when the parish of Oakham was removed from the Oakham Rural District to become its own urban district.^[6][7]

Rutland District Council

The first incarnation of the county council was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. Rutland was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district and placed in Leicestershire. County-level functions therefore passed to Leicestershire County Council.^[8]

The Rutland District Council created in 1974 was a lower-tier district council. Although its territory was the same as the abolished county council's, in terms of functions it replaced the area's four district councils that were also abolished as part of the 1974 reforms.^[9]

Unitary authority

Local government was reformed again in Rutland in 1997, following the Local Government Commission for England, which had recommended in 1994 that Rutland (and Leicester) should become unitary authorities and leave the two-tier Leicestershire.^[10] The way the changes were implemented was to create a new non-metropolitan county of Rutland covering the same area as the district, but with no separate county council. Instead, the existing district council that had been created in 1974 additionally took on the functions that legislation assigns to county councils.^[11]

In August 1996, ahead of the changes coming into effect, the district council resolved to style itself 'Rutland County Council' from 1 April 1997 when it assumed its additional powers. As a concession to the fact that it remains legally a district council, it was agreed that the full name would have to be 'Rutland County Council District Council', but on the understanding that the full name would "be used only very sparingly and when absolutely necessary."^[12][13]

At the 2021 census Rutland had a population of 41,000. This made it the third least populous local government district in England, with only the two sui generis authorities of the Isles of Scilly (2,100 people) and the City of London (8,600 people) serving fewer people. The next smallest unitary authority area after Rutland is Hartlepool with 92,300 people.^[14]

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2021. Following the 2023 election a minority administration of the Liberal Democrats and the single Green Party councillor formed to run the council, led by Liberal Democrat councillor Gale Waller.^[17][18][19]

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:^[20]

Lower-tier district council

Unitary authority

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1995 have been as follows:

Composition

Following the 2023 election, the composition of the council was:^[37]

The next election is due in May 2027.^[38]