Council will be one of the region's biggest employers
CAMPAIGNING gets under way today in what is arguably one of the most important elections to take place in the North-East.
The election of the first 126 members of the new unitary authority for County Durham is unlikely to receive much national attention - and may not attract much attention in the region either - but today's publication of the Notice of Election marks a historic moment for local government politics.
The new body, which will replace the two-tier system of Durham County Council and seven district councils, will become the region's biggest local authority and dwarf its near neighbours, providing council services for 500,000 residents.
Its 22,000 staff will make it one of the largest employers in the North-East - providing the livelihood for more people in the region than Northern Rock, Nissan, Corus, Northumbrian Water, Cummins, Amec and Sage combined.
Its £1bn budget will be bigger than the gross domestic product of at least ten of the world's smaller countries, including the likes of San Marino, The Seychelles and Grenada.
At present, there are 63 elected members of Durham County Council and a further 312 councillors sitting on the seven district councils.
On May 1, voters will elect 126 councillors, two in each of the county council divisions.
Members will run the existing county council for the next year; set up the new unitary authority and then represent their area on that body once it is up and running in April next year.
If that is not complicated enough, there may be yet more to follow. The Boundary Commission for England has suggested it may review electoral arrangements over the next two years, that would see the number of councillors streamlined to between 100 and 120.
The proposal would lead to a further election in 2010 and then another in 2013 to bring County Durham back in line with the rest of the country - a proposal that has been met with widespread opposition from the county's politicians.
Supporters say the abolition of two-tier government will save money by cutting duplication and waste and will give the county a united and powerful voice.
However, district council leaders have long argued that the new body will prove too remote from the people it is meant to serve and remain dubious about the money-saving claims.
THE first election for a countywide council in County Durham, in 1889, left the Conservatives as the biggest party.
The results were:
Conservative - 28
Liberal - 26
Unionist - 6
Working Men - 4
Others - 6
It was 1919 before Labour first won control of the authority, with the election of Peter Lee as chairman.
2:02am Thursday 27th March 2008
Print 
Email this 
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
