Manchester City Council

Manchester City Council is the local government authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. It is composed of 96 councilors, three for each of the 32 electoral wards of Manchester. It was incorporated in 1838 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 as the Corporation of Manchester. It achieved city status in 1853, only the second such grant since the Reformation. The area included in the city has been increased many times. A new Town Hall was opened in 1877 (by Alderman Abel Heywood) and the Mayor of Manchester was granted the title of Lord Mayor in 1893. Under the Local Government Act 1972, the council was reconstituted as a metropolitan borough council. It was also the first council to declare itself as a nuclear-free zone in 1980. Manchester City Council has been controlled by the Labour Party since its reconstitution in 1974.