Jump to content

Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council
Coat of arms or logo
Coat of arms
Logo
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Sharon Holder,
Labour
since 21 May 2025[1]
Stephen Cowan,
Labour
since 22 May 2014
Sharon Lea
since 24 February 2022[2]
Structure
Seats50 councillors
Political groups
Administration (38)
  Labour (38)
Opposition (12)
  Conservative (12)
Length of term
Whole council elected every four years
Elections
Plurality at-large (FPTP)
Last election
7 May 2026
Next election
2 May 2030
Meeting place
Town Hall, King Street, Hammersmith, London, W6 9JU
Website
www.lbhf.gov.uk Edit this at Wikidata

Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council, which styles itself Hammersmith and Fulham Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in Greater London, England. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2014. The council's usual meeting place is at Hammersmith Town Hall.

History

[edit]

The London Borough of Hammersmith (as it was originally named) and its council were created under the London Government Act 1963, with the first election held in 1964. For its first year the council acted as a shadow authority alongside the area's two outgoing authorities, being the metropolitan borough councils of Fulham and Hammersmith. The new council formally came into its powers on 1 April 1965, at which point the old districts and their councils were abolished.[3]

The council changed the borough's name from 'Hammersmith' to 'Hammersmith and Fulham' with effect from 1 April 1979.[4] Since then, the council's full legal name has been "The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham", but it styles itself Hammersmith and Fulham Council.[5]

From 1965 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the Greater London Council. The split of powers and functions meant that the Greater London Council was responsible for "wide area" services such as fire, ambulance, flood prevention, and refuse disposal; with the boroughs (including Hammersmith and Fulham) responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to the London Boroughs, with some services provided through joint committees.[6] Hammersmith and Fulham became a local education authority in 1990 when the Inner London Education Authority was dissolved.[7]

Since 2000 the Greater London Authority has taken some responsibility for highways and planning control from the council, but within the English local government system the council remains a "most purpose" authority in terms of the available range of powers and functions.[8]

The council was involved in a landmark English administrative law case in 1991, Hazell v Hammersmith and Fulham LBC, which ruled that local authorities had no power to engage in interest rate swap agreements because they were beyond the council's borrowing powers.[9]

In 2021 the council was said by the Housing Ombudsman to be the worst performing landlord in the country with regard to damp and mould in its properties.[10]

Powers and functions

[edit]

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the London Government Act 1963 and subsequent legislation, and has the powers and functions of a London borough council. It sets council tax and as a billing authority also collects precepts for Greater London Authority functions and business rates.[11] It sets planning policies which complement Greater London Authority and national policies, and decides on almost all planning applications accordingly. It is a local education authority and is also responsible for council housing, social services, libraries, waste collection and disposal, traffic, and most roads and environmental health.[12]

Political control

[edit]

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2014.

The first election was held in 1964, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1965. Political control of the council since 1965 has been as follows:[13]

Party in controlYears
Labour1965–1968
Conservative1968–1971
Labour1971–1978
No overall control1978–1986
Labour1986–2006
Conservative2006–2014
Labour2014–present

Leadership

[edit]

The role of Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1965 have been:[14]

CouncillorPartyFromTo
John HeaksLabour19651966
Anthony ChapmanLabour19661968
William SmithConservative19681971
Alfred LittleLabour19711973
Barry SteadLabour19731978
Stuart LeishmanConservative19781979
Kim HoweConservative19791985
John PutnamConservative19851986
Gordon PrenticeLabour19861988
Mike GoodmanLabour19881991
Iain ColemanLabour19911996
Andy SlaughterLabour1996May 2005
Stephen Burke[15][16]Labour25 May 2005May 2006
Stephen Greenhalgh[17][18]Conservative24 May 200630 May 2012
Nick Botterill[18][19]Conservative30 May 2012May 2014
Stephen Cowan[20]Labour16 Jun 2014

Composition

[edit]

Following the 2026 election, the composition of the council was as follows:[21]

PartyCouncillors
Labour38
Conservative12
Total50

The next election is due in May 2030.[22]

Wards

[edit]

The wards of Hammersmith and Fulham and the number of seats:[23]

  1. Addison (2)
  2. Avonmore (2)
  3. Brook Green (2)
  4. College Park & Old Oak (3)
  5. Coningham (3)
  6. Fulham Reach (3)
  7. Fulham Town (2)
  8. Grove (2)
  9. Hammersmith Broadway (2)
  10. Lillie (2)
  11. Munster (3)
  12. Palace and Hurlingham (3)
  13. Parsons Green & Sandford (2)
  14. Ravenscourt (2)
  15. Sands End (3)
  16. Shepherd's Bush Green (2)
  17. Walham Green (2)
  18. Wendell Park (2)
  19. West Kensington (3)
  20. White City (3)
  21. Wormholt (2)

Elections

[edit]

Since the last boundary changes in 2022 the council has comprised 50 councillors representing 21 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.[24]

Premises

[edit]

The council's usual meeting place is at Hammersmith Town Hall on King Street, which was completed in 1939 for the old Hammersmith Borough Council.[25] The building has been closed since 2019 whilst being refurbished as part of the development of a new 'Civic Campus' around it, which has included the demolition of the council's former main offices which had been built in front of the Town Hall in 1974/5. The Town Hall is due to reopen in 2025.[26][27][28]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Hammersmith and Fulham has a new Mayor!". London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  2. ↑ "Council report, 24 May 2023" (PDF). Hammersmith and Fulham Council. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  3. ↑ "London Government Act 1963", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1978 c. 33, retrieved 16 May 2024
  4. ↑ "Historical information on changes to electoral arrangements of Local authorities, Parliamentary areas and European Parliamentary boundaries". Boundary-Line Downloads. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 25 August 2025. (See downloadable boundary-legislation-changes-from-1973.xls spreadsheet.)
  5. ↑ "Cabinet agenda, 6 November 2023" (PDF). Hammersmith and Fulham Council. p. 121. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  6. ↑ "Local Government Act 1985", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1985 c. 51, retrieved 5 April 2024
  7. ↑ Education Reform Act 1988 (c. 40)
  8. ↑ Leach, Steve (1998). Local Government Reorganisation: The Review and its Aftermath. Routledge. p. 107. ISBN 978-0714648590.
  9. ↑ "Hazell -v- Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council; HL 1991". swarb.co.uk. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  10. ↑ "Council launches damp and mould strategy after topping ombudsman's worst performers list". Inside Housing. 10 February 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  11. ↑ "Council Tax and Business Rates Billing Authorities". Council Tax Rates. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  12. ↑ "Local Plan Responses – within and outside London". Mayor of London. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  13. ↑ "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 21 May 2025. (Put "Hammersmith & Fulham" in search box to see specific results.)
  14. ↑ "London Boroughs Political Almanac: London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham". London Councils. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  15. ↑ "Council minutes, 25 May 2005". London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  16. ↑ Toynbee, Polly (9 May 2006). "This may be the beginning of the end for Labour itself". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  17. ↑ "Council minutes, 24 May 2006" (PDF). London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  18. 1 2 Courtney, Adam (15 May 2012). "Biography: Hammersmith and Fulham Council leader-in-waiting Nick Botterill". My London. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  19. ↑ "Council minutes, 30 May 2012". London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  20. ↑ "Council minutes, 16 June 2014". London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  21. ↑ Coyle, Simon (7 May 2026). "Hammersmith and Fulham local election results 2026 in full". Manchester Evening News.
  22. ↑ "Hammersmith and Fulham". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  23. ↑ "The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (Electoral Changes) Order 2020". gov.uk. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  24. ↑ "The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (Electoral Changes) Order 2020", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2020/1229, retrieved 7 April 2024
  25. ↑ Historic England. "Hammersmith Town Hall (Grade II) (1079785)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  26. ↑ "Civic Campus". Hammersmith and Fulham Council. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  27. ↑ "H&F Council's new King Street Service Centre is now open". Hammersmith Today. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  28. ↑ Lynch, Ben (16 April 2025). "Hammersmith's 'Town Hall campus' should be completed by year's end". London News Online. Archived from the original on 13 May 2025. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hammersmith_and_Fulham_London_Borough_Council&oldid=1358549360"