The Council is made up of 33 Councillors who are elected every four years to represent 28 wards.  The last election was in May 2007 and resulted in the Conservative group having overall control.  There are currently 17 Conservative, 13 Liberal Democrat and 3 Independent councillors.

The Council has a Leader and Cabinet. Each Member of the Cabinet has a specific area of work or portfolio. These are listed below with the name of the relevant Councillor.

Leader and Building Corporate Capacity: Cllr Peter Webb
Environment + Learning and Knowledge : Cllr Michael Roake
Access and Affordable Housing :                Cllr Graham Carr-Jones
Economy:                                                  Cllr Deborah Croney
Community + Safety and Health:        Cllr Richard Moyle

The Cabinet carries out the day-to-day management of the Council while major decisions are made by the full Council. There are several other committees dealing with specific areas of work, as follows.

The Development Control and Licensing and Orders Committees make decisions on planning and licensing matters.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee, monitors the work of the Cabinet and senior managers. It also reviews policy and other matters which impact on the local community. The Committee has two sub-committees: the Policy Review Committee (previously known as Community Sub-Committee ) looks at wider policy issues and the Service Review Committee (previously known as  Review Sub-Committee ) examines and assesses the Council's own services.

The Standards Committee checks that the Council is working within the law and Codes of Conduct. It also hears complaints against the Council and the town and parish councils in the district. The Committee is made up of three District Councillors, two representatives of the Dorset Association of Parish and Town Councils and two North Dorset electors.

The Chairman and Vice-Chairman

The Chairman is the first citizen of the District, chairs meetings of Full Council and is deputised by the Vice-Chairman. They are elected at the Annual Council Meeting in May, usually for a period of two years.

The Chairman attends many functions on behalf of the Council and acts as principal host. He/she names one or more charities for which he/she will raise money during his/her year of office.

The current Chairman is Cllr Mike Oliver. His Vice-Chairman is Cllr Colin Kay.