Makeup of Wiltshire Council
The diagramme depicts the current make up of Wiltshire Council by Political Grouping.
Conservative (62)
Liberal Democrats (21)
Independent (11)
Labour (3)
Vacant (1)
Wiltshire Council is run as a Cabinet style Council. The leader and the Cabinet making the decisions are currently drawn solely from Conservative Councillors. The Leader is chosen by Full Council and the Cabinet members are then selected.
The Wiltshire Liberal Democrats seek to make the Council more representative by moving to a committee style Council.
What does that really mean and what are the alternatives.
Since the Localism Act 2011, and particularly since the May 2019 elections, many councils have begun exploring different avenues of governance. There are three main models to choose from.
Leader and Cabinet
This system, introduced by the Local Government Act 2000. In some councils, individual members of the cabinet have decision-making powers; in others, decisions have to be made by the whole cabinet.
This model favours a majority party, and where the majority is slim or there is political diversity, councils often look to consider an alternative system of governance.
Committee System
Under this system councils are divided into politically balanced committees that make the decisions. As such, these councils are not required to have an overview and scrutiny committee, though some do have one or more.
A committee system does, inherently, give a louder voice to minority parties and Independents, since each committee is made up of members from all groups.
Mayoral System
A mayoral system functions under a mayor directly elected by the people who live in the local authority area, with a wide range of decision making abilities similar to those of the executive committee in a Leader and Cabinet model local authority.