Darwen - Government

Government

The municipal borough of Darwen existed for ninety-six years, from 1878. The borough was merged with Blackburn in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The town became part of the Lancashire non-metropolitan district of Blackburn, which was renamed Blackburn with Darwen in 1997, shortly before it became a unitary authority.

The population of the town declined from 40 000 in the 1911 census to 30 000 in the 1971 census.

Locally, Darwen has been represented by Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors in the main council wards for the town. In the 2008 local elections, the For Darwen Party picked up the majority of the wards in the town to put pressure on Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council for Darwen to have its own council again. In June 2009 Darwen Town Council was formed.

There are five council wards within Darwen out of the 23 in the Borough of Blackburn with Darwen. These are:

  1. Earcroft
  2. Marsh House
  3. Sudell
  4. Sunnyhurst
  5. Whitehall

Darwen had its own parliamentary constituency until 1983 when it became part of the present Rossendale and Darwen constituency. This marginal seat is currently held by Conservative Jake Berry.

Read more about this topic:  Darwen

Famous quotes containing the word government:

    “The United States is the only great nation whose government is operated without a budget. The fact is to be the more striking when it is considered that budgets and budget procedures are the outgrowth of democratic doctrines and have an important part in developing the modern constitutional rights.... The constitutional purpose of a budget is to make government responsive to public opinion and responsible for its acts.”
    —William Howard Taft (1857–1930)

    “The Government of the absolute majority instead of the Government of the people is but the Government of the strongest interests; and when not efficiently checked, it is the most tyrannical and oppressive that can be devised.”
    —John Caldwell Calhoun (1782–1850)

    “Consider the islands bearing the names of all the saints, bristling with forts like chestnut-burs, or Echinidæ, yet the police will not let a couple of Irishmen have a private sparring- match on one of them, as it is a government monopoly; all the great seaports are in a boxing attitude, and you must sail prudently between two tiers of stony knuckles before you come to feel the warmth of their breasts.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)