Borough of Swindon

"Thamesdown" redirects here. For the municipal bus company, see Thamesdown Transport.
Borough of Swindon
Unitary authority, Borough

Shown within Wiltshire
Coordinates: 51°33′47″N 1°45′47″W / 51.563°N 1.763°W / 51.563; -1.763Coordinates: 51°33′47″N 1°45′47″W / 51.563°N 1.763°W / 51.563; -1.763
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Region South West England
Ceremonial county Wiltshire
Status Unitary authority
Admin HQ Swindon
Government
  Type Unitary authority
  Body Swindon Borough Council
  Leadership Leader & Cabinet (Conservative)
  MPs Robert Buckland (C)
Justin Tomlinson (C)
Area
  Total 88.84 sq mi (230.10 km2)
Area rank 158th (of 326)
Population (mid-2014 est.)
  Total 215,799
  Rank 75th (of 326)
  Density 2,400/sq mi (940/km2)
  Ethnicity 85.7% White British
5.4% Other White
4.9% Asian
1.7% Black British
1.8% Mixed Race
0.6% Other[1]
Time zone GMT (UTC0)
  Summer (DST) BST (UTC+1)
ONS code 00HX (ONS) E06000030 (GSS)
OS grid reference SU164849
Website www.swindon.gov.uk

The Borough of Swindon is a local government authority in South West England. It is centred on the town of Swindon and forms part of the ceremonial county of Wiltshire. It was formed in 1974 as the Thamesdown district of Wiltshire, from former areas of the municipal borough of Swindon (created 1900) and Highworth Rural District (created 1894).

On 1 April 1997 it was made administratively independent of Wiltshire County Council (with its council becoming a unitary authority).[2] It adopted the name Swindon on 24 April 1997. The former Thamesdown name and logo are used by the main local bus operator, Thamesdown Transport Limited.[3]

Geography

The borough of Swindon occupies an area forming the north east corner of Wiltshire and is bordered by two other counties, Gloucestershire (to the north) and Oxfordshire (to the east). Also, West Berkshire is only a short distance from the borough’s south eastern tip. The generally hilly landscape is sculpted by the upper Thames guiding the northern border, small tributaries draining into the Thames, and the Marlborough Downs (/ˈmɔːlbrə/) rising toward the south.

Area covered

Map of the Borough of Swindon and major settlements

The borough encompasses the Swindon urban area and surrounding countryside to the north, east and south, including the town of Highworth. It comprises the former Swindon Municipal Borough and 16 civil parishes:

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Swindon at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year Regional Gross Value Added Agriculture Industry Services
1995 2,654 13 1,023 1,618
2000 4,085 9 1,368 2,708
2003 4,259 8 1,185 3,067

^ includes hunting and forestry

^ includes energy and construction

^ includes Financial Intermediation Services Indirectly Measured

^ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding

Swindon Borough Council

The council follows a leader and cabinet model[4] and has 57 elected members. Elections are held in three out of every four years, with one third of the seats being elected at each election. From the first election in 1996 to the 2000 election, Labour had a majority on the council. Following a period where no party had a majority the Conservatives gained a majority at the 2003 election and have held control since then. As of the 2016 local elections, the council is composed of the following councillors:-[5]

Party Councillors
Conservative Party 30
Labour Party 25
Liberal Democrats 2

Wards

The following are the electoral wards within the Borough as at 2016.[6]

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.