Bournemouth Borough Council is the local authority of Bournemouth

Bournemouth

Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...

 in Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, England. The council is now a unitary authority, although between 1974 and 1997 it was an administrative district council

Non-metropolitan district

Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a so-called "two-tier" arrangement...

 with Dorset. Previously most of the borough was part of Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

.

The Borough can trace its history back to 27 August 1890 when the Municipal Borough

Municipal borough

Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...

 of Bournemouth was created by Royal Charter. On 1 April 1900 it received County Borough

County borough

County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...

 status which lasted until 1974.

Wards

The Council has 18 wards

Wards of the United Kingdom

A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...

 covering the borough.

• Boscombe East
• Boscombe West
• Central
• East Cliff & Springbourne
• East Southbourne & Tuckton
• Kinson North
• Kinson South
• Littledown & Iford
• Moordown
• Queen's Park
• Redhill & Northbourne
• Strouden Park
• Talbot & Branksome Woods
• Throop & Muscliff
• Wallisdown & Winton West
• West Southbourne
• Westbourne & Westcliff
• Winton East

Composition

The Council consists of 54 elected members, 3 from each of the 18 wards. Prior to 2003 there were 19 wards (57 members). Elections

Bournemouth local elections

-Political control:Shire DistrictUnitary Authority-Council elections:* Bournemouth Council election, 1999* Bournemouth Council election, 2003* Bournemouth Council election, 2007* Bournemouth Council election, 2011-1999-2003:...

 take place every four years where all seats are contested.

The composition of the Council:

Party		1999 Election	2003 Election	2007 Election	May 2010	2011 Election
	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	25	16	41	37	45
	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	6	3	3	3	3
	Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...	20	33	7	9	3
	Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...	6	2	3	5	3
Total		57	54	54	54	54

The whole Council will be up for election in 2015.

Coat of arms

The arms of Bournemouth were granted on 24 March 1891. The crest (above the shield) consists of four English roses surmounted by a pine tree. The motto (below the shield) is "Pulchritudo et Salubritas", Latin for "beauty and health". The colours of the shield, the main part of the coat of arms, are taken from the royal arms of King Edward the Confessor, in whose royal estate the area now known as Bournemouth was situated. The four salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

 represent those to be found in the River Stour

River Stour, Dorset

The River Stour is a 60.5 mile long river which flows through Wiltshire and Dorset in southern England, and drains into the English Channel. It is sometimes called the Dorset Stour to distinguish it from rivers of the same name...

, which marks the boundary between Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

 and Bournemouth. Each of the lions holds a rose between its paws. The six birds, also taken from Edward the Confessor's arms, are martlets, heraldic birds with no legs (based on the folk belief that swallows never stopped flying and so did not need legs). The roses in the arms are emblems both of England and of Hampshire, which Bournemouth historically belonged to.

See also

• Bournemouth local elections
  Bournemouth local elections
  -Political control:Shire DistrictUnitary Authority-Council elections:* Bournemouth Council election, 1999* Bournemouth Council election, 2003* Bournemouth Council election, 2007* Bournemouth Council election, 2011-1999-2003:...