The town of
Bolton had been incorporated as a
municipal borough in 1838, governed by a body formally called the 'Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Bolton', generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Bolton was considered large enough for its existing council to provide county-level services, and so it was made a
county borough, independent from the new
Lancashire County Council, whilst remaining part of the
geographical county of Lancashire. The larger Metropolitan Borough of Bolton and its council were created in 1974 under the
Local Government Act 1972 as one of ten metropolitan districts within the new
metropolitan county of Greater Manchester. The first election was held
in 1973. For its first year the council acted as a shadow authority alongside the area's eight outgoing authorities, being the borough councils of
Bolton and
Farnworth, and the
urban district councils of
Blackrod,
Horwich,
Kearsley,
Little Lever,
Westhoughton and
Turton (the latter in respect of its more built up
southern part only, the more rural northern part became the parish of
North Turton in
Blackburn district). The new metropolitan district and its council formally came into being on 1 April 1974, at which point the old districts and their councils were abolished. The metropolitan district was awarded
borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Bolton's
series of mayors dating back to 1838. The council styles itself Bolton Council rather than its full formal name of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council. From 1974 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the
Greater Manchester County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to Greater Manchester's ten borough councils, including Bolton, with some services provided through joint committees. Since 2011 the council has been a member of the
Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which has been led by the directly elected
Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. The combined authority provides strategic leadership and co-ordination for certain functions across Greater Manchester, notably regarding transport and town planning, but Bolton Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions. ==Governance==