The subdivisions of England constitute a hierarchy of administrative divisions and non-administrative ceremonial areas.
Chester was a non-metropolitan local government district of Cheshire, England from 1974 to 2009. It had the status of a city and a borough, and the local authority was called Chester City Council.
In England and Wales, charter trustees are set up to maintain the continuity of a town charter or city charter after a district with the status of a borough or city has been abolished, until such time as a parish council is established. Duties are limited to ceremonial activities such as the election of a mayor, and various other functions depending upon local customs and laws.
Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties are one of the four levels of subdivisions of England used for the purposes of local government outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly. As originally constituted, the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties each consisted of multiple districts, had a county council and were also the counties for the purposes of Lieutenancies. Later changes in legislation during the 1980s and 1990s have resulted in counties with no county council and 'unitary authority' counties with no districts. Counties for the purposes of Lieutenancies are now defined separately, based on the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties.
The 1995 United Kingdom local elections took place on 4 May 1995. The Conservative Party lost over 2,000 councillors in the election, while the Labour Party won 48% of the vote, a record high for the party in local elections.
The unitary authorities of England are those local authorities which are responsible for the provision of all local government services within a district. They are constituted under the Local Government Act 1992, which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to allow the existence of counties that do not have multiple districts. They typically allow large towns to have separate local authorities from the less urbanised parts of their counties and originally provided a single authority for small counties where division into districts would be impractical. However the government has more recently proposed the formation of much larger unitary authorities, including a single authority for North Yorkshire, the largest non-metropolitan county in England, at present divided into seven districts.
The Local Government Commission for England was the body responsible for reviewing the structure of local government in England from 1992 to 2002. It was established under the Local Government Act 1992, replacing the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. The Commission could be ordered by the Secretary of State to undertake "structural reviews" in specified areas and recommend the creation of unitary authorities in the two-tier shire counties of England. The Commission, chaired by John Banham, conducted a review of all the non-metropolitan counties of England from 1993 to 1994, making various recommendations on their future.
Local elections were held in the United Kingdom on 6 May 1976. Elections were for one third of the seats on Metropolitan borough councils and for all seats on Non-Metropolitan district councils in England; and for all seats on the Welsh district councils.
The 2008 United Kingdom local elections were held on 1 May 2008. These elections took place in 137 English Local Authorities and all Welsh Councils.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council is the local authority of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. As a unitary authority, it has the combined powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council and is administratively separate from the rest of Staffordshire.
Structural changes to local government in England were effected on 1 April 2009, whereby a number of new unitary authorities were created in parts of the country which previously operated a "two-tier" system of counties and districts. In five shire counties the functions of the county and district councils were combined into a single authority; and in two counties the powers of the county council were absorbed into a significantly reduced number of districts.
The 2009 United Kingdom local elections were elections held to all 27 County Councils, three existing Unitary Authorities and five new Unitary Authorities, all in England, on 4 June 2009. The elections were due to be held on 7 May 2009, but were delayed in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council elections are held every four years. Stoke-on-Trent City Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Stoke-on-Trent in the ceremonial county of Staffordshire, England. Since the last boundary changes in 2011, 44 councillors have been elected from 37 wards. New ward boundaries have been prepared to come into effect from the 2023 election.
The 2015 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 7 May 2015, the same day as the general election for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
The 2010 Norwich City Council election took place on 9 September 2010 to elect members of Norwich City Council in England. One third of seats were up for election. The elections took place later in the year than other local elections. Norwich had previously been granted permission to become a unitary authority, with local elections postponed until 2011. When the Coalition Government won the general election earlier that year, Norwich's permission to form a unitary authority was overturned. Because of this, the High Court ruled that those councillors who had stayed on beyond their four-year term were no longer constitutionally elected, and would need to seek re-election. This resulted in there being an election in every ward in September to renew the mandate for the wards.
Council elections in England were held on Thursday 3 May 2018. Elections were held in all 32 London boroughs, 34 metropolitan boroughs, 67 district and borough councils and 17 unitary authorities. There were also direct elections for the mayoralties of Hackney, Lewisham, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Watford.
Local elections in England and Wales were held on 6 May 2021 for more than 145 English local councils for around 5,000 seats, thirteen directly elected mayors in England, and 39 police and crime commissioners in England and Wales. There were also elections to the Scottish Parliament, Senedd and London Assembly, the last in conjunction with the London mayoral election. Also on the same day as these local elections, there was a UK Parliament by-election for the constituency of Hartlepool.
Structural changes to local government in England have taken place between 2019 and 2021, and will potentially continue in 2023. Some of these changes continue the trend of new unitary authorities being created from other types of local government districts, which was a policy of Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick from 2019. Ceremonial counties will not see any changes to their boundaries, as the Lieutenancies Act 1997 will be amended to reflect the new local government areas that comprise them.
The 2010 Exeter City Council election took place on 9 September 2010 to elect members of Exeter City Council in England. One third of seats were up for election. The elections took place later in the year than other local elections. Exeter had previously been granted permission to become a unitary authority, with local elections postponed until 2011. When the Coalition Government won the general election earlier that year, Exeter's permission to form a unitary authority was overturned. Because of this, the High Court ruled that those councillors who had stayed on beyond their four-year term were no longer constitutionally elected, and would need to seek re-election. This resulted in there being an election in every ward in September to renew the mandate for the wards.
Local elections in the United Kingdom took place on 5 May 2022. These included elections for all London borough councils, and for all local authorities in Wales and Scotland. Most seats in England were last up for election in 2018 and in Scotland and Wales in 2017. The elections coincided with the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election. In 91 cases, most of them in Wales, council seats were uncontested, each having only one candidate. Three seats in Scotland remained unfilled as no one stepped forward to fill them.
