Number of county councillors to rise by 7% as minister accepts reforms

The number of county councillors across the country is set to increase by 7% in next year’s local elections as a result of sweeping changes to council sizes in all local authority areas.

A report by the Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee recommended the addition of 66 new council seats on local authorities to bring the overall total to 949 councillors.

However, the increase comes at the expense of more than 80 town and borough councils which will be abolished resulting in the loss of some 744 elected officials on those bodies.