Dorset Council (UK)

Dorset Council
Type
Type	Unitary authority
History
Founded	1 April 2019
Preceded by	Weymouth and Portland West Dorset North Dorset Purbeck East Dorset Dorset County Council
Leadership
Chair	Stella Jones, Liberal Democrats since 16 May 2024[1]
Leader	Nick Ireland, Liberal Democrats since 16 May 2024
Chief Executive	Matt Prosser since 1 April 2019[2]
Structure
Seats	82 councillors
Political groups	Administration (46)   Liberal Democrats (42)   Green (4) Other parties (36)   Conservative (30)   Ind. for Dorset (3)   Labour (2)   Independent (1)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	2 May 2024
Next election	3 May 2029
Meeting place
County Hall, Colliton Park, Dorchester, DT1 1XJ
Website
www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk

Dorset Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Dorset in England. It is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county of Dorset, which also includes Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. The council was created in 2019 when local government across Dorset was reorganised.

The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since the 2024 election. It is based at County Hall in Dorchester.