Royal Wootton Bassett - Governance

Governance

In local government, the town falls under the auspices of Wiltshire Council, a unitary authority established in 2009 as part of wider local government changes in England. In the national Westminster government, since the 2010 general election the town has been represented by the Conservative MP James Gray, as the elected member for the North Wiltshire parliament constituency, established in 1983. In the European Parliament, the town is represented as part of the South West England constituency. The town is twinned with Blain in western France.

The original Wootton Bassett UK Parliamentary constituency was abolished in 1832. The right of the town to send two representatives to Parliament was first gained as early as 1446 and before the Reform Act 1832, Wootton Bassett was known as a Rotten Borough, due to the way in which elections were conducted there, which were the antithesis of modern democratic elections. Voters were required to state their preferences in public before representatives of each side, and were openly bribed. In 1754 the accounts of a successful candidate show that his supporters were paid £30 each for their vote, and in the run up to the election the candidates secured the allegiance of public houses in the town, where voters were plied with free refreshments. Free beer was also provided by men who carried containers about the town. The same accounts show that £1,077 was paid out to 12 pubs for the refreshments.