The Borough of Middlesbrough is a district in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Tees Valley region, along with the boroughs of Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool and Darlington. The district covers the town of Middlesbrough, Nunthorpe civil parish and Stainton and Thornton civil parish. Since its creation in 1974, it has had borough status and the governing Middlesbrough Council became a unitary authority in 1996.
From the county's creation in 1889 (from the historic subdivision of Yorkshire) areas under Middlesbrough's governance remained part of North Riding of Yorkshire county for varying amounts of self-governance. The final iteration of this governance was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district in the county of Cleveland (the county itself governed from Middlesbrough) in 1974. Since 1996, for ceremonial purposes, the district is part of North Yorkshire as a unitary authority. Fire and Police, however, remain as well as the borough's placement in North East England instead of Yorkshire and the Humber, which large parts of North Yorkshire is in. It is included within the combined authority area of Tees Valley.
| County | Borough/ district | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Type | Dependant | Type | From | Until | Notes |
| Yorkshire | Historic |  | Municipal borough | 1856 | 1889 | |
| North Riding of Yorkshire | Geographical |  | County borough | 1889 | 1968 | Merged into Teesside |
| Cleveland (county town) | Non-metropolitan | | Shire district | 1974 | 1996 | |
| North Yorkshire | Ceremonial | | Unitary authority | 1996 | ||
The borough contains the following areas:
The borough is made up of 19 council wards (formerly 21 as Gresham ward merged with Newport ward between the 2011 and 2021 censuses) within the borough of Middlesbrough. Each ward has a non-statutory community committee. [5] There are also two statutory parish councils for "Nunthorpe" and "Stainton and Thornton". [6] East, north and west Middlesbrough as well as parts of Park End-and-Beckfield, Berwick-Hils-and-Pallister and Ladgate are covered by the Middlesbrough parliamentary constituency. South Middlesbrough as well as the other parts of the wards are covered by the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland parliamentary constituency.
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The council operates a with directly elected Mayor of Middlesbrough. The political composition of the council, as of the May 2019 local election, is Independent 23, Labour 20; and Conservative 3.
| Party | Seats [7] [8] | Current council | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Labour | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conservative | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Teesside International Airport (formerly known as Durham Tees Valley Airport), is joint owned by the borough and the other four Tees Valley councils The council also owns multiple buildings in the borough.
| Year | Name of Mayor |
|---|---|
| 1853 | Henry Bolckow |
| 1854 | Issac Wilson |
| 1855 | John Vaughan |
| 1856 | Henry Thompson |
| 1858 | John Richardson |
| 1859 | William Fallows |
| 1860 | George Bottomley |
| 1861 | James Harris |
| 1862 | Thomas Brentnall |
| 1863 | Edgar Gilkes |
| Years | Name of Mayor |
|---|---|
| 2002–2015 | Ray Mallon |
| 2015–2019 | Dave Budd |
| 2019–2023 | Andy Preston |
| 2023– | Chris Cooke |
The first mayor of Middlesbrough was the German-born Henry Bolckow in 1853. [11] [12] In the 20th century, encompassing introduction of universal suffrage in 1918 and changes in local government in the United Kingdom, the role of mayor changed and became largely ceremonial.
In 2001, as part of a wider programme of devolution, voters in Middlesbrough were offered a referendum to decide between a directly elected mayor or the cabinet system then in operation, with the traditional civic and ceremonial functions of the Mayors being transferred to the Chair of Middlesbrough Council, which they did so by a large margin. [13]
In 2002, Ray Mallon (Independent), formerly a senior officer in Cleveland Police, became Middlesbrough's first directly elected mayor. He was re-elected in 2007 [14] and then in 2011. [15] Mallon chose not to stand for a fourth term in 2015 and his deputy mayor, Dave Budd (Labour) was elected to succeed him. [16] [17] Budd decided not to stand for a second term and in the May 2019 mayoral election, local businessman Andy Preston (independent) won with 59% of the vote. [18]
The borough of Middlesbrough's total resident population was 148,285, by the 2022 The population of Middlesbrough as a county borough peaked at almost 165,000 in the late 1960s, however this has declined since the early 1980s before starting to recover in the 2010s. [19]
Women in the former Middlehaven ward (absorbed into the central ward) had the second lowest life expectancy at birth, 74 years, of any ward in England and Wales in 2016. [20] In the borough of Middlesbrough, 14.0% of the population were non-white British.
| Ethnic Group | Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 census [21] | 2011 census [22] | 2021 census [23] | ||||
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| White: Total | 126,399 | 93.7% | 122,055 | 88.1% | 118,547 | 82.3% |
| White: British | 124,532 | 92.3% | 119,106 | 86% | 114,421 | 79.5% |
| White: Irish | 726 | 574 | 434 | |||
| White: Roma | 85 | 160 | ||||
| White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller | 320 | |||||
| White: Other | 1,141 | 2,290 | 3,212 | |||
| Asian or Asian British: Total | 6,415 | 4.7% | 10,768 | 7.8% | 15,090 | 10.5% |
| Asian or Asian British: Indian | 846 | 1,477 | 2,804 | |||
| Asian or Asian British: Pakistani | 4,839 | 3.6% | 6,811 | 8,990 | 6.2% | |
| Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi | 77 | 244 | 595 | |||
| Asian or Asian British: Chinese | 263 | 904 | 669 | |||
| Asian or Asian British: Other Asian | 390 | 1,332 | 2,032 | |||
| Black or Black British: Total | 477 | 1,731 | 3,816 | 2.7% | ||
| Black or Black British: African | 303 | 1,470 | 3,339 | |||
| Black or Black British: Caribbean | 128 | 92 | 162 | |||
| Other Black | 46 | 169 | 315 | |||
| Mixed or British Mixed: Total | 1,269 | 2,362 | 3,001 | |||
| Mixed: White and Black Caribbean | 317 | 541 | 570 | |||
| Mixed: White and Black African | 208 | 452 | 650 | |||
| Mixed: White and Asian | 475 | 904 | 1,110 | |||
| Mixed: Other Mixed | 269 | 465 | 671 | |||
| Other: Total | 295 | 1,496 | 3,468 | |||
| Other: Arab | 950 | 1,452 | ||||
| Other: Any other ethnic group | 546 | 2,016 | ||||
| Non-White: Total | 8,456 | 16,357 | 25,375 | |||
| Total | 134,855 | 100% | 138,412 | 100% | 143,922 | 100% |
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Middlesbrough at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Year | Regional Gross Value Added 4 | Agriculture 1 | Industry 2 | Services 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 1,115 | 8 | 377 | 729 |
| 2000 | 1,192 | 6 | 417 | 768 |
| 2003 | 1,538 | 6 | 561 | 971 |
^1 includes hunting and forestry
^2 includes energy and construction
^3 includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
^4 Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Middlesbrough.
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North Yorkshire is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber and North East regions of England. It borders County Durham to the north, the North Sea to the east, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the south-east, South Yorkshire to the south, West Yorkshire to the south-west, and Cumbria and Lancashire to the west.
Middlesbrough, colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside built-up area and the Tees Valley.
Redcar and Cleveland is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Its council has been a unitary authority since 1996.
Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority. It is in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England, and is located 7 miles (11 km) east of Middlesbrough.
The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees is a unitary authority area in England with borough status in County Durham and North Yorkshire. In 2021, it had a population of 196,600. Its main settlement and namesake of the borough is Stockton-on-Tees, which lies on the north bank of the River Tees, along with the towns of Billingham and Norton-on-Tees, in County Durham. It also includes the towns of Ingleby Barwick, Thornaby-on-Tees and Yarm, all south of the Tees, in North Yorkshire. The borough locally governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The borough forms part of the Tees Valley together with four other nearby boroughs.
Tees Valley is a combined authority area in North East England, around the lower River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley; the local term for the valley is Teesdale. The combined authority covers five council areas: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees.
Marton or Marton-in-Cleveland is an area of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Until the 1950s, it was a small village next to the hamlet of Tollesby in Yorkshire's North Riding.
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland is a constituency created in 1997 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Luke Myer of the Labour Party.
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council elections are held every four years. Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Stockton-on-Tees, which straddles the ceremonial counties of County Durham and North Yorkshire, England. Until 1 April 1996 it was a non-metropolitan district in Cleveland.
The Borough of Darlington is a unitary authority area with borough status in County Durham, England. Since 1997 Darlington Borough Council has been a unitary authority; it is independent from Durham County Council. It is named after its largest settlement, the town of Darlington, where the council is based. The borough also includes a rural area surrounding the town which contains several villages. The population of the borough at the 2021 census was 107,800, of which over 86% (93,015) lived in the built-up area of Darlington itself.
Middlesbrough Council, formerly Middlesbrough Borough Council, is the unitary authority covering the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Following the 2023 local elections, Labour has held majority control of the council, which meets at the Town Hall. It is led by the directly-elected Mayor of Middlesbrough. The council is a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority.
Nunthorpe is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England.
Hemlington is an area of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It is centred around a lake and is in the Borough of Middlesbrough's south-western outskirts.
Grangetown is an area in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. The area is 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Middlesbrough and 4 miles (6.4 km) south-west of Redcar.
Langbaurgh was a parliamentary constituency in south Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland boroughs, the latter previously named Langbaurgh from 1974 to 1996. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system, and existed from 1983 to 1997.
Cleveland was a non-metropolitan county located in North East England which existed between 1974 and 1996. Cleveland was a two-tier county and had four boroughs: Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough and Langbaurgh-on-Tees. The county town was Middlesbrough, where Cleveland County Council met. The county was named after the historic area of Cleveland, Yorkshire. Its area is now split between the counties of North Yorkshire and County Durham.
The County Borough of Teesside was a county borough in the north-east of England, which existed for just six years. It was created in 1968 to cover the Teesside conurbation which had grown up around the various port and industrial towns near the mouth of the River Tees. The council was based in Middlesbrough, the area's largest town. The county borough was abolished in 1974 on the creation of the new county of Cleveland, which covered a larger area, with the county borough's territory being split between three of the four districts created in the new county.
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, which straddles the ceremonial counties of County Durham and North Yorkshire in England. Since 1996 the council has been a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. It therefore provides services including Council Tax billing, libraries, social services, town planning, waste collection and disposal, and it is a local education authority. Since 2016 the council has been a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority, which has been led by the directly elected Tees Valley Mayor since 2017.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is the local authority for Redcar and Cleveland, a local government district with borough status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 1996 the council has been a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. The council was created in 1974 as Langbaurgh Borough Council and was a lower-tier authority until 1996 when it was renamed and became a unitary authority, taking over county-level functions from the abolished Cleveland County Council.
Middlesbrough started as a Benedictine priory on the south bank of the River Tees, its name possibly derived from it being midway between the holy sites of Durham and Whitby. The earliest recorded form of Middlesbrough's name is "Mydilsburgh", containing the term burgh.
William Ferdinand, a British manufacturer, born in Germany in 1806, died 18 June 1878. ... He was the first Mayor of Middlesbrough, a place which owes much of its prosperity to his energy and enterprise
This was followed in 1868 by Middlesbrough's first Parliamentary Elections, in which Henry Bolckow (1806–1878) of the firm Bolckow & Vaughan wanted to stand for election, however this was initially blocked by the fact that he was a foreigner ...
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