Houses Unicameral Founded 1 April 1974 Voting system Plurality-at-large | Term limits None Leader Jo Lovelock, Labour | |
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Type Unitary authority council of Reading, Berkshire | ||
Reading Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a ceremonial county, with no administrative responsibilities.
Reading Borough Council has adopted the committee system of governance and the current leader of the council is Councillor Jo Lovelock of the Labour Party. The largely ceremonial post of mayor is held by Councillor Sarah Hacker.
The area covered by the Borough of Reading is one definition of the town of Reading. However, in common usage, the town often encompasses suburbs that lie beyond the borough boundary, in the adjoining local authority areas of Wokingham, West Berkshire and South Oxfordshire. These suburbs are outside the control of Reading Borough Council.
Wards
Reading's councillors are elected by 16 wards:
Of these wards, 15 are represented by three councillors each, with one councillor elected in each of three years out of four. The exception is Mapledurham ward, which has a single councillor elected in one year out of four.