Description
Somerset Council, known until 1 April 2023 as Somerset County Council, is the unitary authority that governs the district of Somerset, which occupies the southern part of the ceremonial county of the same name in the South West of England. The council has been controlled by the Liberal Democrats since the 2022 local elections, and its headquarters is County Hall in Taunton.
The council is the successor to the county council of the administrative county of Somerset, which was created on 1 April 1889. The council was abolished and reconstituted in 1974, when local government in England was reformed and a non-metropolitan county of Somerset was created, governed by a county council and five, later four, district councils. The districts were abolished in 2023 and the county council took on their responsibilities, becoming a unitary authority.
The Conservative Party has been the largest or second-largest party on the council since 1973, and since 1981 has competed with the Liberal Democrats for control; each party has formed several majority administrations in the period since.
