North Yorkshire Council, known until 1 April 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the unitary authority which governs the district of North Yorkshire, within the larger ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, in England. The council's headquarters is County Hall in Northallerton, the county town.
The district has a population of 615,491 and an area of , with the remainder of the county governed by the unitary authorities of Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, and the City of York. North Yorkshire was a two-tier non-metropolitan county from 1974 until 2023, when the seven districts of the county were abolished and their functions taken over by the county council.
History
The council was formed in 1974, when North Riding County Council was abolished, and has been based at County Hall in Northallerton since then. The non-metropolitan county originally had eight districts: York, Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby. In 1996 the City of York was expanded with the addition of parishes from the districts of Harrogate, Ryedale, and Selby and became a unitary authority, removing it from the non-metropolitan county.
In 2022 the number of county councillors was increased to 90, in anticipation of the remaining seven districts of the non-metropolitan county being abolished in 2023. The county council assumed the districts' functions, and was renamed 'North Yorkshire Council' at the same time. The reorganisation did not affect the councillors elected in May 2022, who will serve until 2027; after this elections will be held every four years.
The reorganisation began in October 2020, when the Government invited the councils in the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire and the City of York Council to submit proposals for reorganisation into unitary local authorities. The county council proposed a single unitary council for its entire administrative area and no change to York. The district councils (except Hambleton) jointly proposed an eastern council combining the areas of Ryedale, Scarborough, Selby and York, and a western council including Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate and Richmondshire. Following a public consultation, in July 2021 the Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, announced that the county council's proposal would be taken forward and the first elections for the new unitary authority would be held in May 2022. The reorganisation was approved by Parliament on 17 March 2022.
Governance
Until May 2022 the Council was composed of 72 councillors. Elections were held every four years, except in 2021. The 2017 election returned an increased Conservative majority, with the Conservative Party holding 55 seats. Independent candidates saw an increase to 10 seats, with the Liberal Democrats and Labour seeing large reductions in their seat counts. UKIP and the Liberal Party both lost their representation on the council, with the Liberal Party incumbent in Pickering losing by just 2 votes. Across the 2017–2022 period of governance the Conservative Party saw a net loss of 4 seats, and their governing majority was 30 by 2022.
The number of councillors was increased to 90 in March 2022, with elections held the following May . The 2022 election returned a much reduced Conservative majority, with the party holding 47 seats. The number of independent candidates increased to 13, and the Liberal Democrats and Labour increased their number of seats to 12 each. The Green Party won 5 seats, and the Liberal Party regained its representation on the council with 1 seat.
After the May 2022 election the Conservative Party lost 1 seat to the Liberal Democrats, reducing the Conservatives' overall majority to 2 seats. On 14 June 2023 the Conservatives lost North Yorkshire Council to no overall control following the resignation of one of their councillors. Mike Jordan, who represents the Camblesforth & Carlton ward in the Selby area cited concerns about the party nationally for his reason for leaving the party. Thereafter, three independent councillors formed an Independent Conservative group, separate to but aligned with the main Conservative group, leaving the Conservative Party still nominally in control of the council despite lacking a majority.
Political control
Political control of the council has been held by the following groups: