Established in 1886, Cheadle Hulme's first local authority was the Cheadle and Gatley local board of health, a regulatory body responsible for standards of hygiene and sanitation for the area of Stockport Etchells township and the part of Cheadle township outside the Municipal Borough of Stockport. The board of health was also part of Stockport poor law union. In 1888 the board was divided into four wards: Adswood, Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme and Gatley. Under the Local Government Act 1894 the area of the local board became Cheadle and Gatley Urban District. There were exchanges of land with the neighbouring urban districts of Wilmslow and Handforth in 1901, and the wards were restructured again, splitting Cheadle Hulme into north and south, and merging in Adswood. Due to the fast-paced growth of the district, the wards were again restructured in 1930, with the addition of Heald Green. In 1940 the current wards of Adswood, Cheadle East, Cheadle West, Cheadle Hulme North, Cheadle Hulme South, Gatley and Heald Green were established. Under the Local Government Act 1972 the Cheadle and Gatley Urban District was abolished, and Cheadle Hulme has, since 1 April 1974, formed an unparished area of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester.