Newcastle-under-Lyme
Non-metropolitan district and borough
Newcastle-under-Lyme market day and high street
Newcastle-under-Lyme market day and high street
Newcastle-under-Lyme shown within Staffordshire
Newcastle-under-Lyme shown within Staffordshire
RegionWest Midlands
Non-metropolitan county Staffordshire
StatusNon-metropolitan district
Admin HQNewcastle-under-Lyme
Incorporated1 April 1974
Government
 • TypeNon-metropolitan district council
 • BodyNewcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council
 • MPsAaron Bell (Conservative)
Karen Bradley (Conservative)
Bill Cash (Conservative)
Area
 • Total211.0 km2 (81.5 sq mi)
 • Rank142nd (of 296)
Population
 (2021)
 • Total123,025
 • Rank193rd (of 296)
 • Density580/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code41UE (ONS)
E07000195 (GSS)
OS grid referenceSJ8463746024

The Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire, England.

It is named after the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme, where the council is based. The borough also includes the town of Kidsgrove and several villages and surrounding rural areas lying generally to the west of Newcastle itself. Most of the borough's built-up areas form part of The Potteries Urban Area.

The neighbouring districts are Staffordshire Moorlands, Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford, Shropshire and Cheshire East.

History

The town of Newcastle-under-Lyme was an ancient borough, established in the twelfth century. It is known to have been granted a charter (since lost) around 1173 by Henry II.[1][2] The earliest surviving charter dates from 1235. The borough was formally incorporated in 1590 under a new charter from Elizabeth I.[3]

The borough was reformed in 1836 to become a municipal borough under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which reformed many boroughs across the country. The municipal borough was enlarged several times, notably in 1932 when it took in what had been the Wolstanton United Urban District, covering the parishes of Chesterton, Silverdale and Wolstanton, and at the same time also absorbed the parish of Clayton from Newcastle-under-Lyme Rural District.[4]

The modern district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 covering three former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:[5]

The new district was named Newcastle-under-Lyme after its largest town.[lower-alpha 1][6] The district was granted borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Newcastle's series of mayors dating back to 1318.[7][8]

Governance

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Simon White,
Conservative
since 17 May 2023[9]
Simon Tagg,
Conservative
since 5 December 2017
Martin Hamilton
since 2019[10]
Structure
Seats44 councillors
Political groups
Administration (25)
  Conservative (25)
Other parties (19)
  Labour (18)
  Independent (1)
Elections
First past the post
Last election
5 May 2022
Next election
7 May 2026
Meeting place
Castle House, Barracks Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme, ST5 1BL
Website
www.newcastle-staffs.gov.uk
Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Police hat badge, in the collection of the Staffordshire County Museum and displayed at the Shire Hall, Stafford

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Staffordshire County Council. Parts of the borough are also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[11][12]

Political control

The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2021.

The first elections to the enlarged borough council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[13][14]

Party in controlYears
No overall control1974–1979
Labour1979–2002
No overall control2002–2004
Labour2004–2006
No overall control2006–2012
Labour2012–2017
No overall control2017–2021
Conservative2021–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Newcastle-under-Lyme, with political leadership provided instead by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been:[15]

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Reg Lane[16] Labour1 Apr 197418 May 1976
George Poole[17] Conservative18 May 19761978
Brian Westrup Conservative19781979
Bill Welsby[18] Labour19791984
Mike Brereton[19] Labour19849 May 1994
Eddie Boden[20] Labour18 May 19944 May 2003
David Leech Labour21 May 200324 May 2006
Simon Tagg Conservative24 May 200618 May 2011
Stephen Sweeney Conservative18 May 201116 May 2012
Gareth Snell Labour16 May 201225 May 2014
Mike Stubbs Labour4 Jun 201420 May 2015
Elizabeth Shenton Labour20 May 20155 Dec 2017
Simon Tagg Conservative5 Dec 2017

Composition

Following the 2022 election and a subsequent change of allegiance in November 2023, the composition of the council was:[21]

Party Councillors
Conservative25
Labour18
Independent1
Total44

The next election is due in 2026.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2018 the council has comprised 44 councillors representing 21 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. The wards are:[22][23]

Premises

Civic Offices, Merrial Street: Council's headquarters until 2018, since demolished.

The council is based at Castle House on Barracks Road in the centre of Newcastle. The building was purpose-built for the council as a shared facility with Staffordshire County Council and the police, and opened in 2018.[24] Prior to that the council was based at the Civic Offices on Merrial Street which had been completed in 1967 for the old borough council.[25]

Demography

Comparative census information
2001 UK CensusBorough of Newcastle-under-LymeEngland
Total population122,03049,138,831
White98%91%
Asian0.6%4.6%
Black0.2%2.3%
Christian78.5%72%
Muslim0.5%3.1%
Hindu0.2%1.1%
No religion13.1%15%
Unemployed2%3.3%

In the 2001 census, the borough was recorded as having a population of 122,030 with 51.5% being female. 78.% identified themselves as Christian, 13.1% having no religion, 0.5% Muslim, 0.2% Hindu or other and 0.1% stating Jewish or Sikh.[26] 61.2% were classed as economically active, with 22.6% working in manufacturing, 18.5% in wholesale or retail, 11.6% in health/social work and 11.6% in financial and other business related activities.[27]

Education

Keele University is in the borough.

Newcastle-under-Lyme was chosen for the campus of University College of North Staffordshire, established in 1949 at Keele Hall in the village of Keele, two miles from the town centre, and which was granted full university status as Keele University in 1962. Keele University Medical School is based in the grounds of the University Hospital of North Staffordshire at Hartshill in Stoke-on-Trent, about a mile from the centre of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Towns and parishes

Kidsgrove, the borough's second largest town

An area roughly corresponding to the pre-1974 municipal borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme (less the parish of Silverdale, created in 2002) is an unparished area; over half the borough's population live in this area.[28] The rest of the borough is divided into eleven civil parishes.[12] The parish council for Kidsgrove has declared that parish to be a town, allowing it to take the style "town council".[29]

The parishes are:

Freedom of the Borough

The following people, military units and organisations and groups have received the Freedom of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Individuals

Military units

Organisations and Groups

References

  1. ↑ The statutory order naming the district includes the hyphens, but the council itself omits them in its corporate branding.
  1. ↑ Jenkins, J. G., ed. (1963). A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 8. London: Victoria County History. pp. 24–39. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  2. ↑ "History of Newcastle". Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  3. ↑ Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into the Municipal Corporations in England and Wales: Appendix 3. 1835. p. 1951. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  4. ↑ "Newcastle under Lyme Chapelry / Civil Parish". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "The English Non-metropolitan District (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 17 November 2023
  6. ↑ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 31 May 2023
  7. ↑ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1974. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  8. ↑ "The history and role of the mayor". Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  9. ↑ "Council minutes, 17 May 2023" (PDF). Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Johnson, Hayley (11 December 2023). "Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council's top officer to step down". Daily Focus. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
  12. 1 2 "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  13. ↑ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  14. ↑ "Newcastle-Under-Lyme". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
  15. ↑ "Council minutes". Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  16. ↑ "Set for new role at Newcastle". Evening Sentinel. Stoke-on-Trent. 4 March 1974. p. 16. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  17. ↑ "Council houses for sale soon?". Evening Sentinel. Stoke-on-Trent. 19 May 1976. p. 1. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  18. ↑ "Tribute to work of late leader". Evening Sentinel. Stoke-on-Trent. 4 October 1984. p. 7. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  19. ↑ "Council leader in shock defeat". Evening Sentinel. Stoke-on-Trent. 6 May 1994. p. 17. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  20. ↑ "New leader comes in fighting..." Evening Sentinel. Stoke-on-Trent. 11 May 1994. p. 4. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  21. ↑ Boothroyd, David (17 November 2023). "Scottish Labour steels seat". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  22. ↑ "The Newcastle-under-Lyme (Electoral Changes) Order 2017", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2017/1079, retrieved 28 December 2023
  23. ↑ "E07 Non-metropolitan District: Newcastle-under-Lyme: Related: E05 Electoral Wards/Divisions in Newcastle-under-Lyme". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  24. ↑ Corrigan, Phil (23 July 2018). "Take a look around new £15.4m council HQ and library which has finally opened after a 9-month delay". Stoke-on-Trent Live. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  25. ↑ "£500,000 centre a milestone for Newcastle". Evening Sentinel. Stoke-on-Trent. 20 September 1967. p. 7. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  26. ↑ "Newcastle-under-Lyme Social Profile" (PDF). Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2007.
  27. ↑ "Newcastle-under-Lyme Economic Profile" (PDF). Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2007.
  28. ↑ "Newcastle-under-Lyme". City Population. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  29. ↑ "Parish councils contact information". Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  30. ↑ "Gordon Banks given freedom of Newcastle-under-Lyme award". BBC News. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  31. ↑ "Former Stoke City kit man given Freedom of the Borough". Signal1. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  32. ↑ "Royal Stoke awarded Freedom of the Borough for 'selfless work' during pandemic". 22 May 2021.

53°00′40″N 2°13′44″W / 53.011°N 2.229°W / 53.011; -2.229

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