Wiltshire's "two tier" system of local government until 2009 was typical of English shire counties, with the county, excluding the pre-existing unitary authority of Swindon, being sub-divided into four local government districts. However, the Department for Communities and Local Government announced on 25 July 2007 that with effect from 1 April 2009 Wiltshire was to be served by a new unitary authority, replacing Wiltshire County Council and the four district councils within its area, with Swindon continuing as a separate unitary authority.[1]
Although the new authority came into being on 1 April 2009, the date on which the four district councils ceased to exist, the first elections to the new council were not held until 4 June. For some two months, the role of elected members of the new authority was carried out by the 48 outgoing Wiltshire county councillors and by an "Implementation Executive" consisting of eight members appointed from the outgoing county council and two members from each of the outgoing districts.
Between 2009 and 2013 the composition of the council changed significantly. After the 2009 local elections the council consisted of 62 Conservatives, 24 Liberal Democrats, seven independent councillors, three Devizes Guardians, and two Labour. In September 2009 and December 2010, an Independent joining UKIP while remaining in the Independent group,[2] a defection in May 2012 by a Liberal Democrat councillor to the Conservatives,[3] and in November 2012 by another Lib Dem and a Conservative to the Independents,[4] by the beginning of 2013 Wiltshire Council consisted of 61 Conservatives, 22 Liberal Democrats, ten Independents including one UKIP member, three Devizes Guardians, and two Labour members.
