The town of
Rochdale had been governed by
improvement commissioners from 1825. In 1856 the town was incorporated as a
municipal borough, governed by a body formally called the 'mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Rochdale', generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Rochdale 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. : Completed 1871 for old borough council and served as modern council's headquarters until 2013. Still used by council for annual mayor-making ceremony. The larger Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale 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 six outgoing authorities, being the borough councils of
Rochdale,
Heywood and
Middleton and the
urban district councils of
Littleborough,
Milnrow and
Wardle. 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 Rochdale's series of mayors dating back to 1856. The council styles itself Rochdale Borough Council rather than its full formal name of Rochdale 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 Rochdale, 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 Rochdale Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions. ==Governance==