Borough of Rugby

The Borough of Rugby is a local government district with borough status in Warwickshire, England. The borough comprises the town of Rugby where the council has its headquarters, and the rural areas surrounding the town. At the 2021 census the borough had a population of 114,400, of which 78,125 lived in the built-up area of Rugby itself and the remainder were in the surrounding areas.

Borough of Rugby
Borough and non-metropolitan district
Rugby, the largest settlement and administrative centre of the borough
Shown within Warwickshire
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	West Midlands
Administrative county	Warwickshire
Admin. HQ	Rugby
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan borough
• MPs:	John Slinger (Rugby) Jeremy Wright (Kenilworth and Southam)
Area
• Total	136 sq mi (351 km2)
• Rank	101st
Population  (2022)
• Total	116,436
• Rank	Ranked 208th
• Density	860/sq mi (330/km2)
Ethnicity (2021) [1]
• Ethnic groups	List 85.7% White 7.6% Asian 2.8% Mixed 2.7% Black 1.1% other
Religion (2021) [1]
• Religion	List 50.5% Christianity 36.1% no religion 1.8% Islam 3.3% Hinduism 0.1% Judaism 1.4% Sikhism 0.4% Buddhism 0.5% other 5.9% not stated
Time zone	UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
ONS code	44UD (ONS) E07000220 (GSS)

Aside from Rugby itself, more notable settlements include Binley Woods, Brinklow. Dunchurch, Long Lawford, Monks Kirby, Wolston, Wolvey and the new large development of Houlton. It includes a large area of the West Midlands Green Belt in the mostly rural area between Rugby and Coventry.

Between 2011 and 2021, the population of Rugby borough saw a 14.3% increase in population from around 100,100 in to 114,400, meaning it has had the largest percentage increase of any local authority area in the West Midlands region since 2011.^[2]

The borough extends from Coventry in the west to the borders with Leicestershire and Northamptonshire in the east, it borders the Warwickshire districts of Nuneaton and Bedworth to the north-west, Stratford-on-Avon to the south, and Warwick to the south-west. The Leicestershire districts of Hinckley and Bosworth, Blaby and Harborough are bordered to the north and north-east, whilst West Northamptonshire is bordered to the south-east.

History

The town of Rugby had been a local board district from 1849.^[3] Such districts became urban districts in 1894.^[4] At the same time the Rugby Rural District was created covering the surrounding rural parishes.^[5] The urban and rural districts had separate councils, both based in Rugby. In 1932, Rugby Urban District was upgraded to become a municipal borough, and its boundaries were expanded to include most of Bilton (including New Bilton), Brownsover, Hillmorton and Newbold-on-Avon.^[6]

The present borough was created on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972. It was created by a merger of the municipal borough of Rugby (which covered the town of Rugby) and the Rugby Rural District.^[7] The new district was named Rugby after its largest settlement.^[8] The district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Rugby's series of mayors dating back to 1932.^[9]

Governance

Rugby Borough Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
Leadership
Mayor	Simon Ward, Labour since 16 May 2024
Leader	Michael Moran, Labour since 5 June 2024
Chief Executive	Mannie Ketley since March 2020[10]
Structure
Seats	42 councillors
Political groups	Administration (15)   Labour (15) Other parties (27)   Conservative (17)   Liberal Democrats (10)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	2 May 2024
Next election	7 May 2026
Meeting place
Town Hall, Evreux Way, Rugby, CV21 2RR
Website
www.rugby.gov.uk

Rugby Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Warwickshire County Council.^[11] Much of the borough is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.^[12]

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2023. Following the 2024 election, a minority Labour administration formed to run the council with informal support from the Liberal Democrats.^[13][14]

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows ^[15]

Party in control		Years
	No overall control	1974–1976
	Conservative	1976–1979
	No overall control	1979–1987
	Conservative	1987–1990
	No overall control	1990–2007
	Conservative	2007–2016
	No overall control	2016–2018
	Conservative	2018–2023
	No overall control	2023–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Rugby. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2002 have been:^[16]

Councillor	Party		From	To
Craig Humphrey[17]		Conservative	2002	31 Aug 2014
Michael Stokes[18]		Conservative	23 Sep 2014	16 May 2019
Seb Lowe		Conservative	16 May 2019	7 May 2023
Derek Poole		Conservative	18 May 2023	5 Jun 2024
Michael Moran		Labour	5 Jun 2024

Composition

Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was:^[19]

Party		Councillors
	Conservative	17
	Labour	15
	Liberal Democrats	10
Total		42

The next election is due in 2026.

Elections

See also: Rugby Borough Council elections

Since the last full review of boundaries in 2012 the council has comprised 42 councillors representing sixteen wards, with each ward electing either one or three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council being elected each time for a four-year term of office. Warwickshire County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections.^[20][21][22]

Premises

The council is based at Rugby Town Hall on Evreux Way in the town centre, which was purpose-built for the old borough council and opened in 1961.^[23]

Parishes

The borough of Rugby has 41 civil parishes mainly covering the rural areas of the borough. Rugby town is an unparished area and so does not have a separate town council.^[24]

Here is a list of parishes in the borough, some of which contain several settlements. Where a parish contains more than one settlement these are listed in brackets:

• Ansty,
• Binley Woods, Birdingbury, Bourton and Draycote, Brandon and Bretford, Brinklow, Burton Hastings
• Cawston, Church Lawford, Churchover, Clifton-upon-Dunsmore, Combe Fields, Copston Magna, Cosford,
• Dunchurch (incl: Toft)
• Easenhall
• Frankton,
• Grandborough
• Harborough Magna
• King's Newnham
• Leamington Hastings (incl: Broadwell, Hill & Kites Hardwick), Little Lawford, Long Lawford
• Marton, Monks Kirby,
• Newton and Biggin
• Pailton, Princethorpe
• Ryton-on-Dunsmore
• Shilton and Barnacle, Stretton Baskerville, Stretton-on-Dunsmore, Stretton-under-Fosse
• Thurlaston,
• Wibtoft, Willey, Willoughby, Withybrook, Wolfhampcote (incl: Flecknoe & Sawbridge), Wolston, Wolvey.

Places of interest

Places of interest in Rugby town include:

• The Rugby School Museum, which has audio-visual displays about the history of Rugby School and of the town.
• Rugby Art Gallery and Museum. The art gallery contains a nationally recognised collection of contemporary art. The museum contains, amongst other things, Roman artefacts dug up from the nearby Roman settlement of Tripontium.
• The Webb Ellis Rugby Football Museum, where traditional rugby balls are handmade. It contains much rugby football memorabilia.
• The Benn Hall, a conference, seminar, exhibition and party venue.
• Newbold Quarry Park, nature reserve
• Swift Valley Nature Reserve

Places of interest around Rugby include:

• Brandon Marsh
• Brinklow Castle
• Coombe Abbey
• Draycote Water – Reservoir and nature reserve
• Garden Organic
• Oxford Canal

See also

• List of wards in Rugby borough by population

References

1. UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – Rugby Local Authority (E07000220)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
2. "How the population changed in Rugby: Census 2021". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
3. "No. 21020". The London Gazette. 18 September 1849. p. 2853.
4. Local Government Act 1894
5. "Rugby RD Local Government District". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
6. "Rugby MB/UD Local Government District". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
7. "The English Non-metropolitan District (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 17 November 2023
8. "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 3 January 2024
9. "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1974. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
10. "Rugby Council director named a 'local hero'". Rugby Observer. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
11. "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
12. "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
13. Morris, Andy (29 May 2024). "Labour set to lead Rugby Borough Council under new pact with Lib Dems". Rugby Observer. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
14. Khan, Shehnaz (7 June 2024). "New council leader 'honoured' to take on role". BBC News. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
15. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
16. "Council minutes". Rugby Borough Council. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
17. "Humphrey defends new role after 'jobs for the boys' claim". Rugby Observer. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
18. Morris, Andy (8 May 2019). "Rugby council leader to step down due to work commitments". Rugby Observer. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
19. "ELECTION RESULTS: Labour close gap on Tories at Rugby Borough Council". Rugby Observer. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
20. "The Rugby (Electoral Changes) Order 2012", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2012/4, retrieved 21 January 2024
21. "RUGBY District Wards". City Population. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
22. "The Council". Rugby Borough Council. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
23. "Rugby history timeline". Rugby Local History Group. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
24. "RUGBY District Parishes". City Population. Retrieved 20 October 2018.

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