Governance
Northamptonshire, like most English counties, is divided into a number of local authorities. The seven borough/district councils cover 15 towns and hundreds of villages. The county has a two-tier structure of local government and an elected county council based in Northampton, and is also divided into seven districts each with their own district or borough councils:
| Council | Where based |
|---|---|
| Corby Borough Council | Corby |
| Daventry District Council | Daventry |
| East Northamptonshire District Council | Thrapston |
| Kettering Borough Council | Kettering |
| Northampton Borough Council | Northampton |
| South Northamptonshire District Council | Towcester |
| Borough Council of Wellingborough | Wellingborough |
Northampton itself is the most populous urban district in England not to be administered as a unitary authority (even though several smaller districts are unitary). During the 1990s local government reform, Northampton Borough Council petitioned strongly for unitary status, which led to fractured relations with the County Council.
Before 1974, the Soke of Peterborough was considered geographically part of Northamptonshire, although it had had a separate county council since the late 19th Century and separate Quarter Sessions courts before then. Now part of Cambridgeshire, the city of Peterborough became a unitary authority in 1998, but it continues to form part of that county for ceremonial purposes.
Read more about this topic: Northamptonshire
Famous quotes containing the word governance:
“He yaf me al the bridel in myn hand,
To han the governance of hous and land,
And of his tonge and his hand also;”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)