Borough of Darlington
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2009) |
Borough of Darlington | |
|---|---|
 Darlington Town Hall | |
 Coat of arms  Council logo | |
 Darlington shown within County Durham and England | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Constituent country | England |
| Region | North East England |
| Combined Authority | Tees Valley |
| Ceremonial county | County Durham |
| Admin. HQ | Darlington |
| Government | |
| • Type | Darlington Borough Council |
| • Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
| • Executive: | Conservative |
| • Tees Valley Mayor | Ben Houchen |
| • MPs: | Paul Howell (C) Peter Gibson (C) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 76.3 sq mi (197.5 km2) |
| • Rank | 160th |
| Population (mid-2019 est.) | |
| • Total | 106,803 |
| • Rank | Ranked 224th |
| • Density | 1,400/sq mi (540/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (British Summer Time) |
| ONS code | 00EH (ONS) E06000005 (GSS) |
| Ethnicity | 93.7% White, 2.8% S.Asian, 3.5% other Non-White |
| Website | darlington.gov.uk |
The Borough of Darlington is a unitary authority and borough in County Durham, Northern England. The borough is named after the town of Darlington, and in 2011 had a population of 106,000.
It is in the Tees Valley mayoralty. The borough borders three local authority areas; County Durham is to the north and west, Stockton-on-Tees to the east and North Yorkshire to the south, the River Tees forming the border for the latter.
History[edit]
The current borough boundaries were formed on 1 April 1974, by the creation of a new non-metropolitan district of Darlington by the Local Government Act 1972, covering the previous county borough of Darlington along with nearly all of Darlington Rural District (the Newton Aycliffe parts of which went to Sedgefield). It remained part of County Durham for administrative purposes until reconstituted as a unitary authority on 1 April 1997. For ceremonial purposes it remains part of County Durham, with whom it continues to share certain local services, such as Fire and Rescue and Police. It is included within the Tees Valley area for both cultural and regional government administration.
Council[edit]
It is made up of 20 council wards, sixteen within the town of Darlington itself, which are also covered by the Darlington parliamentary constituency and four rural wards of Heighington & Coniscliffe, Hurworth, Middleton St George and Sadberge & Whessoe (part of the Sedgefield parliamentary constituency.
The council operates a Leader and Cabinet model of political leadership although a group of local residents aimed to force a referendum on moving to a system with directly elected executive Mayor.[1] Their bid was unsuccessful.
The political composition of the council, as of a May 2019 local elections, is Conservative 22;Labour 20; Liberal Democrats 3; Independent 3 and Green Party 2. Since then, one Labour councillor has declared he is now an Independent.
| Party | Seats[2][3] | Current council | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 22 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Labour | 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lib Dems | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Independent | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Green Party | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Settlements[edit]
As well as Darlington itself the borough includes the surrounding villages of:
- Archdeacon Newton
- Barmpton
- Beaumont Hill
- Bishopton
- Blackwell
- Brafferton
- Coatham Mundeville
- Denton
- Great Burdon
- Great Stainton
- Heighington
- High Coniscliffe
- Houghton
- Hurworth
- Killerby
- Little Stainton
- Low Dinsdale
- Near airport
- Piercebridge
- Redworth
- Sadberge
- Summerhouse
- Walworth
It is home to Teesside International Airport (previously known as Durham Tees Valley Airport).
Economy[edit]
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Darlington 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 Added4 | Agriculture1 | Industry2 | Services3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 1,115 | 8 | 377 | 729 |
| 2000 | 1,192 | 6 | 417 | 768 |
| 2003 | 1,538 | 6 | 561 | 971 |
^1 includes hunting and forestry
^2 includes energy and construction
^3 includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
^4 Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
Freedom of the Borough[edit]
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Darlington.
 |
Individuals[edit]
- John Williams: 24 November 2011.
- Alasdair MacConachie: 24 November 2011.
Military Units[edit]
- The Light Infantry: 1996.
- The Rifles: 17 September 2010.[5]
References[edit]
- ^ "Pro-mayor group halfway to securing a referendum". The Northern Echo. 29 August 2006. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
- ^ "Local Election Results 2011 Summary". Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
- ^ "Borough and Parish Elections results - Thursday 2 May 2019". www.darlington.gov.uk.
- ^ "Darlington Borough Council" (PDF). www.darlington.gov.uk.
- ^ Live, Teesside (17 September 2010). "Thousands of people flocked to Darlington to honouring our heroes".
External links[edit]
- Darlington Borough Council
- Darlington Tourist Information
- Darlington Railway Centre & Museum
- Darlington Arts Centre & Civic Theatre
Video clips[edit]
| Unitary authorities | |
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| Major settlements |
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Coordinates: 54°31′00″N 1°33′00″W / 54.5167°N 1.5500°W
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