Shropshire Council elections are held every four years, and since 2009 74 councillors have been elected from 63 electoral divisions.
Shropshire Council is the unitary authority for the district of Shropshire, within the larger ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. The council was created in 1889 as Salop County Council, and was the upper tier of government in the two-tier metropolitan county between 1974 and 2009. On 1 April 2009, as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, Shropshire's districts were abolished and the county council took over their functions.[1] The Telford and Wrekin district had already become a separate unitary authority in 1998.[2]
Since 1974, political control of the council has been held by the following parties:[3] [4] [5]
Non-metropolitan county
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| 1974–2005 | ||
| 2005–2009 | ||
Unitary authority
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| 2009–present | ||
The leaders of the council since 2009 have been:[6]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malcolm Pate | 18 Jun 2009 | |||
| Keith Barrow[7] | 18 Jun 2009 | 4 Dec 2015 | ||
| Malcolm Pate | 17 Dec 2015 | 18 May 2017 | ||
| Peter Nutting | 18 May 2017 | 9 May 2021 | ||
| Lezley Picton | 20 May 2021 | |||
By-elections for individual seats can occur during a council's four-year term, for instance when a councillor dies or resigns their seat.
Five by-elections were held during this term, which saw the Liberal Democrats gain three seats from the Conservatives.
Former councils in Shropshire: