The administrative base of High Peak Borough Council is split between sites in the towns of Buxton and Glossop.

High Peak Borough Council was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972.

[3] The district was granted borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.

[4] In February 2008, the council formed a strategic alliance with the neighbouring Staffordshire Moorlands District Council to share a number of services and staff as a way of reducing costs, including a shared chief executive and senior management team.

The leader then chooses other members to form a cabinet, which is known as the executive at High Peak Borough Council.

The Chinley complex had been built in 1902 as an isolation hospital and had been bought by the rural district council in 1953 and converted to become its offices.

They are expected to be politically impartial during their term of office as mayor, although they do get an additional casting vote in the event of a tie.