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Derbyshire County Council
Derbyshire County Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan county council
Leadership
Chair	Trevor Ainsworth, ; Conservative ; since 22 May 2019
Leader	Barry Lewis, ; Conservative ; since 24 May 2017
Managing Director	Emma Alexander ; since December 2021
Structure
Seats	64 councillors
Political groups	Administration (41) Conservative (41) Other parties (23) Labour Party (16) Liberal Democrats (4) Reform UK (2) Green (1)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	6 May 2021
Next election	1 May 2025
Meeting place
	County Hall, Smedley Street, Matlock, DE4 3AG
Website
	www.derbyshire.gov.uk

Derbyshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Derby. The county council is based at County Hall in Matlock. Since 2017 the council has been under Conservative majority control. The council is a constituent member of the East Midlands Combined County Authority.

History

The council was first set up in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888,^[4] covering the administrative county. It was reconstituted in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 with some adjustments to its territory, most notably gaining Derby which had previously been a county borough independent from the county council. In 1997, the city of Derby left the area covered by the council becoming a unitary authority, but the city remains part of Derbyshire for ceremonial purposes.

In 2024 a combined county authority was established covering Derbyshire, Derby, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, called the East Midlands Combined County Authority. The combined authority is chaired by the directly elected Mayor of the East Midlands and oversees the delivery of certain strategic functions across the area.^[5]

District and Borough Councils

There are eight lower tier district/borough councils within the Derbyshire Council area:^[6]

Political control

The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2017.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:^[7]^[8]

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1974–1977
	Conservative	1977–1981
	Labour	1981–2009
	Conservative	2009–2012
	No overall control	2012–2013
	Labour	2013–2017
	Conservative	2017–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1981 have been:^[9]

Councillor		From	To
David Bookbinder^[10]	Labour	1981	1992
Martin Doughty^[11]	Labour	1992	2001
John Williams^[12]	Labour	2001	2009
Andrew Lewer^[13]	Conservative	2009	2013
Anne Western	Labour	2013	2017
Barry Lewis^[14]	Conservative	24 May 2017

Composition

Since the 2021 election there have been four changes to the current make up of the council. Labour won two by-elections in October 2022 and August 2023 from the Conservatives and three Conservative councillors have left the party, two joining Reform UK in March 2023 and one becoming an Independent in June 2024. As of October 2024 the composition of the council was:^[15]^[16]

Party		Councillors
	Conservative	40
	Labour	16
	Liberal Democrats	4
	Reform UK	2
	Green	1
	Independent	1
Total		64

The next election is due in May 2025.

Premises

From its creation in 1889 until 1955 the council met at County Hall, Derby, which had been built in 1660.^[17]^[18] In 1955 the council moved to the current county hall in Matlock. This newer county hall is in a former hydrotherapy complex called Smedley's Hydro which was built in 1867.^[19]

Elections

Since 2013 the council has comprised 64 councillors. Following the most recent Boundary Review, from the 2025 election each electoral division will be represented by a single councillor. Elections are held every four years.^[20]

Notable former members

Dennis Skinner (1964–1970), later member of parliament for Bolsover
Andrew Lewer (2005-2014 Leader 2009-2013), later member of European Parliament for East Midlands