Powys County Council

Powys County Council (Welsh: Cyngor Sir Powys) is the local authority for Powys, one of the 22 principal areas of Wales. The council is based at County Hall in Llandrindod Wells.

The county of Powys was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of the three administrative counties of Brecknockshire, Montgomeryshire, and Radnorshire, which were abolished at the same time. From 1974 until 1996 there were two principal tiers of local government, with Powys County Council as the upper tier authority and three district councils below it, each of which corresponded to one of the pre-1974 counties: Brecknock Borough Council, Montgomeryshire District Council, and Radnorshire District Council.

The three districts were abolished under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, with Powys County Council becoming a unitary authority with effect from 1 April 1996, taking on the functions formerly performed by the district councils.

The council has been under no overall control since 2017. Following the 2022 election a Liberal Democrat and Labour coalition formed to take control of the council. The Green councillor later joined the coalition.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Upper-tier county council

Unitary authority

The leaders of the council since 2002 (formally called the chairman of the board prior to 2011) have been: