Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council
	Council logo
Type
Type	Unitary authority
History
Founded	1 April 2019
Preceded by	Bournemouth Borough Council; Christchurch Borough Council; Poole Borough Council; Dorset County Council
Leadership
Chair	Lesley Dedman, ; Christchurch Independents ; since 23 May 2023
Leader	Millie Earl, ; Liberal Democrats ; since 23 July 2024
Chief Executive	Graham Farrant ; since 21 May 2019
Structure
Seats	76 councillors
Political groups	Administration (44) Liberal Democrats (28) Christchurch Ind. (8) Poole People (5) Independent (3) Other parties (32) Conservative (12) Labour (10) Green (6) Poole Engage (2) Independent (2)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
	Civic Centre, Bourne Avenue, Bournemouth, BH2 6DY
Website
	www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, which styles itself BCP Council, is the local authority for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. It is independent from Dorset Council, the unitary authority which administers the rest of the county. The district was created on 1 April 2019 by the merger of the areas that were previously administered by the unitary authorities of Bournemouth and Poole, and the non-metropolitan district of Christchurch.^[1]

The council has been under no overall control since 2022. Since the 2023 election it has been run by a coalition of the Liberal Democrats, Christchurch Independents, Poole People Party and some of the independent councillors, led by Liberal Democrat councillor Vikki Slade, until her resignation after being elected as MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole at the 2024 United Kingdom general election in July 2024. She was succeeded by Deputy Leader and fellow Liberal Democrat councillor Millie Earl on 23 July 2024. The council is based at the Civic Centre in Bournemouth.

^ Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (25 May 2018). "The Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole (Structural Changes) Order 2018". legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.