City of Milton Keynes

This article is about the local government district. For the main settlement, see Milton Keynes. For the built-up area, see Milton Keynes urban area.

City of Milton Keynes
City, borough and unitary authority area
Coat of arms
Motto(s):  By knowledge, design and understanding
City of Milton Keynes, shown within Buckinghamshire and England
Interactive map of City of Milton Keynes
Coordinates: 52°02′N0°46′W / 52.03°N 0.77°W / 52.03; -0.77
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East
Ceremonial county	Buckinghamshire
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Unitary authority
• Governing body	Milton Keynes City Council
•  MPs	Chris Curtis (Lab) (Milton Keynes North) Emily Darlington (Lab) (Milton Keynes Central) Callum Anderson (Lab) Buckingham and Bletchley
Area [1]
• Total	309 km2 (119 sq mi)
Population  (2024) [2]
• Total	305,884
• Rank	50th
• Density	991/km2 (2,570/sq mi)
Postcode	MK
Area code	01908
ISO 3166 code	GB-MIK
GSS code	E06000042
Website	milton-keynes.gov.uk

The City of Milton Keynes is a borough in Buckinghamshire, England. The borough was created in 1974 and is named after its main settlement, Milton Keynes, which had been designated as a new town seven years earlier in 1967. It is the northernmost district of the South East England Region. The borough abuts Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and the remainder of Buckinghamshire. ^[a] The borough was awarded city status in 2022. It is administered by Milton Keynes City Council, which has been a unitary authority since 1997.

The principal built-up area in the borough is the Milton Keynes urban area, which accounts for about 20% of its area and 90% of its population. The borough also includes many rural areas surrounding the Milton Keynes urban area, especially to the north, containing several villages and the town of Olney. At the 2021 census, the population of the borough was just over 287,000. ^[3]

History

See also: History of Milton Keynes

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole area of four former districts and part of a fifth, which were all abolished at the same time: ^[4]

• Bletchley Urban District
• Newport Pagnell Urban District
• Newport Pagnell Rural District
• Winslow Rural District (part within the designated New Town area only, rest went to Aylesbury Vale)
• Wolverton Urban District

The new district was named Milton Keynes after the new town which had been designated in 1967, covering a large area in the south of the new district. ^{[5] [6]} The district was given borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. ^[7]

As established in 1974, the borough of Milton Keynes was one of five non-metropolitan districts of Buckinghamshire, with Buckinghamshire County Council providing county-level services to the area. On 1 April 1997, Milton Keynes became a self-governing unitary authority by being redefined as its own non-metropolitan county, independent from Buckinghamshire County Council. ^[8] Milton Keynes remains part of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire for the purposes of lieutenancy. ^[9]

On 15 August 2022, letters patent were issued giving the borough the status of a city, allowing the council to change its name to Milton Keynes City Council. ^[10]

Local government

Main article: Milton Keynes City Council

See also: Milton Keynes local elections and 2024 United Kingdom local elections

Arising from the local government elections of May 2024, the borough is governed by a Labour administration. The Liberal Democrat party is the main opposition group.

In the 2024 election Labour gained 4 seats to become the majority party, having previously been part of a joint Labour-Lib-Dem run administration.

The borough is fully parished, with over 50 parishes.

Economy

According to data from the Office for National Statistics for 2017, the borough was the highest performing NUTS3 region in the UK outside inner London (which takes the first five places), on the basis of gross value added per head. ^[11]

Education

See also: List of schools in Milton Keynes

Further education in the borough is provided by Milton Keynes College. For higher education, the Open University's headquarters are in Milton Keynes – though, as this is a distance education institution, the only students resident on campus are approximately 200 full-time postgraduates. A campus of the University of Bedfordshire located in Central Milton Keynes, provides conventional undergraduate courses.

Cranfield University is the academic partner in project with Milton Keynes City Council to establish a new university, code-named "MK:U", on a reserved site in the city centre. ^[12] As of January 2022 ^[update] , the project is stalled pending assurance of government funding. ^[13]

Demographics

Population

Population trend of borough and Urban Area 1801–2021

Population of City of Milton Keynes (unitary authority area) in 2021

At the 2021 census, the population of the borough was 287,060. ^[3] This was an increase of 15.3% from the 2011 census, when the population of the borough was 248,821. ^[16] By 2050, the City Council projects that the borough's population will reach 410,000. ^[17]

Education

At the 2021 census, of residents aged 16 and over, 15.8% had no qualifications, 10.9% had a level 1 qualification, 14.2% had level 2, 4.7% were in apprenticeship, 15.7% had level 3, 35.8% had level 4 and 2.9% had other qualifications.

Ethnicity

In the 2021 census, almost 71.8% of the population described their ethnic origin as white, 12.3% as Asian, 9.7% as black, 4% as mixed, and 2% as another ethnic group. ^[18]

(click "show" to expand)

Ethnic Group	Year
	1981 estimations [19]		1991 census [19] [20]		2001 census [21]		2011 census [22]		2021 census [18]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
White: Total	119,876	95.6%	168,679	94.1%	187,852	90.7%	199,094	80%	206,114	71.8%
White: British	–	–	–	–	179,694	86.8%	183,934	73.9%	178,568	62.2%
White: Irish	–	–	–	–	2,918		2,498		2,382	0.8%
White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller	–	–	–	–	–	–	72		156	0.1%
White: Roma	–	–	–	–					578	0.2%
White: Other	–	–	–	–	5,240		12,590	5.1%	24,430	8.5%
Asian or Asian British: Total	3,073		6,127		9,406	4.5%	22,782	9.2%	35,645	12.3%
Asian or Asian British: Indian	1,560		2,940		3,967	1.9%	8,106	3.3%	15,348	5.3%
Asian or Asian British: Pakistani	398		842		1,682	0.8%	3,851	1.5%	7,163	2.5%
Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi	388		717		1,072	0.5%	1,989	0.8%	3,189	1.1%
Asian or Asian British: Chinese	325		688		1,835	0.9%	2,722	1.1%	2,913	1.0%
Asian or Asian British: Other Asian	402		940		850	0.4%	6,114	2.5%	7,032	2.4%
Black or Black British: Total	1,722		2,972		4,986	2.4%	17,131	6.9%	27,851	9.7%
Black or Black British: African	289		548		2,596		13,058	5.2%	21,502	7.5%
Black or Black British: Caribbean	1,017		1,716		1,956		2,524		2,975	1.0%
Black or Black British: Other Black	416		708		434		1,549		3,374	1.2%
Mixed or British Mixed: Total	–	–	–	–	3,716	1.8%	8,235	3.3%	11,725	4%
Mixed: White and Black Caribbean	–	–	–	–	1,347		2,243		2,997	1.0%
Mixed: White and Black African	–	–	–	–	477		1,597		2,551	0.9%
Mixed: White and Asian	–	–	–	–	1,037		2,228		2,973	1.0%
Mixed: Other Mixed	–	–	–	–	855		2,167		3,204	1.1%
Other: Total	765		1,417		1,097	0.5%	1,579	0.6%	5,725	2%
Other: Arab	–	–	–	–	–	–	565		1349	0.5%
Other: Any other ethnic group	765		1,417		1,097	0.5%	1,014	0.4%	4376	1.5%
Ethnic minority: Total	5,561	4.4%	10,521	5.9%	19,205	9.3%	49,727	20%	80,946	28%
Total	125,437	100%	179,200	100%	207,057	100%	248,821	100%	287,060	100%

Religion

The following table shows the religion of respondents in recent censuses in the city of Milton Keynes.

Religion	2001 Census [23]		2011 Census [24]		2021 Census [25]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Christian	135,715	65.54	131,352	52.79	122,935	42.83
Muslim	4,843	2.34	11,913	4.79	20,484	7.14
Hindu	2,596	1.25	6,918	2.78	12,911	4.50
Sikh	795	0.38	1,372	0.55	1,959	0.68
Buddhist	747	0.36	1,246	0.50	1,404	0.49
Jewish	466	0.23	427	0.17	383	0.13
Other religion	821	0.40	1,216	0.49	1,558	0.54
No religion	44,633	21.56	77,939	31.32	108,953	37.95
Religion not stated	16,441	7.94	16,438	6.61	16,473	5.74
Total	207,057	100.00%	248,821	100.00%	287,060	100.00%

Housing and home ownership

Household tenure breaks down to 60.8% of dwellings owner-occupied, 21% of homes privately rented and 18% are socially rented. ^[3] Due to the borough's fast-growing population, the City Council plans for a minimum of 26,500 dwellings across the borough over the period between 2016 and 2031, with development primarily focused on city estates, expansion areas and strategic land locations in the south and east of Milton Keynes, Campbell Park (in CMK) and the three "Key Settlements" outside of the 1967 "designated development area" of Milton Keynes: Newport Pagnell, Woburn Sands and Olney. ^[26]

Public health

According to Public Health England, "The health of people in Milton Keynes is generally similar to the England average. About 15.1% (8,680) children live in low income families. Life expectancy for both men and women is similar to the England average." ^[27]

Settlements

Milton Keynes urban area

The City of Milton Keynes is fully parished. These are the parishes, and the districts they contain, that are now elements of the Milton Keynes built-up area as defined by the Office for National Statistics. ^{[28] [b]}

• Abbey Hill: Kiln Farm, Two Mile Ash, Wymbush
• Bletchley and Fenny Stratford: Brickfields, Central Bletchley, Denbigh, Mount Farm, Fenny Lock, Granby, Fenny Stratford, Newton Leys, Water Eaton
• Bradwell: Bradville, Bradwell, Bradwell Abbey, Bradwell Common, Bradwell village, Heelands, Rooksley
• Broughton and Milton Keynes  –Atterbury, Brook Furlong, Broughton, Fox Milne, Middleton (includes Milton Keynes Village), ^[c] Northfield, Oakgrove, Pineham.
• Campbell Park (civil parish): Fishermead, Newlands, Oldbrook, Springfield, Willen and Willen Lake, Winterhill, The Woolstones
• Central Milton Keynes: Central MK, Campbell Park
• Fairfields
• Great Linford: Bolbeck Park, Blakelands, Conniburrow, Downs Barn, Downhead Park, Giffard Park, Great Linford, Neath Hill, Pennyland, Redhouse, Tongwell, Willen Park
• Kents Hill, Monkston and Brinklow: Brinklow, Kents Hill, Kingston, Monkston
• Loughton and Great Holm: Loughton, Loughton Lodge, Great Holm, Elfield Park, the Bowl
• New Bradwell
• Newport Pagnell
• Shenley Brook End: Emerson Valley, Furzton, Kingsmead, Shenley Brook End, Shenley Lodge, Snelshall, Tattenhoe, Tattenhoe Park, Westcroft
• Shenley Church End: Crownhill, Grange Farm, Hazeley, Medbourne, Oakhill, Oxley Park, Shenley Church End, Woodhill
• Simpson and Ashland: Ashland, Simpson, West Ashland
• Stantonbury: Bancroft/Bancroft Park, Blue Bridge, Bradville, Linford Wood, Oakridge Park, Stantonbury, Stantonbury Fields
• Stony Stratford: Fullers Slade, Galley Hill, Stony Stratford
• Walton: Caldecotte, Old Farm Park, Tilbrook, Tower Gate, Walnut Tree, Walton, Walton Hall, Walton Park, Wavendon Gate
• Wavendon: Wavendon, Eagle Farm, Glebe Farm
• West Bletchley: Far Bletchley, Old Bletchley, West Bletchley.
• Whitehouse
• Woburn Sands
• Wolverton and Greenleys: Greenleys, Stacey Bushes, Stonebridge, Wolverton, Old Wolverton
• Woughton: Beanhill, Bleak Hall, Coffee Hall, Eaglestone, Leadenhall, Netherfield, Peartree Bridge, Redmoor, Tinkers Bridge (part)
• Old Woughton: Passmore (part of Tinkers Bridge), Woughton on the Green, Woughton Park.

Bletchley, Central Milton Keynes, Fenny Stratford, Newport Pagnell, Stony Stratford, Woburn Sands and Wolverton are towns.

Rest of the borough

The rural area accounts for about 80% of the borough by area and about 10% by population. Olney is a town. These are the extra-urban civil parishes:

• Astwood and Hardmead
• Bow Brickhill
• Caldecote
• Calverton
• Castlethorpe
• Chicheley
• Clifton Reynes
• Cold Brayfield
• Emberton
• Filgrave
• Gayhurst
• Hanslope
• Haversham-cum-Little Linford
• Lathbury
• Lavendon
• Little Brickhill
• Long Street
• Moulsoe
• Newton Blossomville
• North Crawley
• Olney
• Ravenstone
• Sherington
• Stoke Goldington
• Tyringham
• Warrington
• Weston Underwood

Neighbourhood Plans

As of December 2023 ^[update] , the borough has 28 designated Neighbourhood Areas, of which 22 have made/adopted Neighbourhood Development Plans approved by the City Council, spanning both urban and rural parishes. ^[29]

Heritage assets

Main articles: Grade I listed buildings in the City of Milton Keynes and Grade II* listed buildings in the City of Milton Keynes

As of 2025 ^[update] the National Heritage List for England includes 1,166 entries for heritage assets in the City of Milton Keynes. These comprise 1,111 listed buildings, of which 30 are at Grade I, 59 Grade II*, and 1,022 Grade II; 5 parks and gardens, of which 3 are grade II* and 2 Grade II; 49 Scheduled monuments; and 1 certificate of immunity from listing, for The Point. ^[30]

Freedom of the City

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City (from 2022) or Freedom of the Borough (1982–2021).

Individuals

• Jock Campbell, Baron Campbell of Eskan: 18 March 1982. ^[31]
• James Marshall: 2009. ^[31]
• Dame Cleo Laine: 2011. ^[31]
• Peter Winkelman: 12 November 2015. ^{[32] [33]}
• Leah Williamson: 28 February 2023. ^{[34] [35]} (first recipient of the Freedom of the City rather than the Borough)
• Dean Lewington: 10 May 2025 ^[36]

Military Units

• The Royal Green Jackets: 1998. ^[31]
  • The Rifles: 2007. ^[31] (confirmation)
• 678 (Rifles) Squadron 6 Regiment Army Air Corps: 11 March 2018. ^[37]

Organisations and businesses

• Red Bull Racing, 2014 ^[31]

Notes

1. The remainder of Buckinghamshire is controlled by Buckinghamshire Council, which is also a Unitary Authority
2. This list excludes the civil parishes of Aspley Guise and Aspley Heath which, despite being in the contiguous built-up area, are in Central Bedfordshire and thus outside the City of Milton Keynes.
3. So Milton Keynes (the village) is in Middleton (the grid square), which is in Milton Keynes (the civil parish), which is one of a number in Milton Keynes (the city), which in turn is in the City of Milton Keynes unitary authority district.

References

1. "Mid-Year Population Estimates, United Kingdom, June 2024". Office for National Statistics . 26 September 2025. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
2. "Mid-Year Population Estimates, United Kingdom, June 2024". Office for National Statistics . 26 September 2025. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
3. UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – Milton Keynes Local Authority (E06000042)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 18 September 2023.
4. "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 25 April 2023
5. "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 25 April 2023
6. "No. 44233". The London Gazette . 24 January 1967. p. 827.
7. "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 28 March 1974. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
8. "The Buckinghamshire (Borough of Milton Keynes) (Structural Change) Order 1995". Government of the United Kingdom . Retrieved 15 July 2020. (2) A new county shall be constituted comprising the area of Milton Keynes and shall be named the county of Milton Keynes.
9. "Lieutenancies Act 1997", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1997 c. 23, retrieved 26 April 2023
10. "No. 63791". The London Gazette . 18 August 2022. p. 15822.
11. Statistical bulletin: Regional gross value added (balanced), UK: 1998 to 2017 (table 7) (Report). Office for National Statistics. 12 December 2018.
12. "Project Two: MK:U A new University for Milton Keynes". MK2050 Futures Commission. October 2017. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
13. "Milton Keynes: New university project for 2023 delayed". BBC News. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
14. Source: Vision of Britain, Office for National Statistics
15. "Sex by age - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
16. "Census: East of England has biggest population rise since 2011". BBC News. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
17. "STRATEGY FOR 2050 NEW DESIGN" (PDF). MK2050 Futures Commission. March 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
18. "Ethnic group - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
19. Ethnicity in the 1991 census: Vol 3 - Social geography and ethnicity in Britain, geographical spread, spatial concentration and internal migration. London: HMSO. 1996. ISBN   978-0-11-691655-6 – via Internet Archive.
20. Data is taken from United Kingdom Casweb Data services of the United Kingdom 1991 Census on Ethnic Data for England, Scotland and Wales (Table 6)
21. "Office for National Statistics; 2001 Census Key Statistics". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
22. "2011 Census: Ethnic Group, local authorities in England and Wales". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
23. "Dataset KS007 - Religion". Nomis - official census and labour market statistics. 2001.
24. "Dataset KS209EW - Religion". Nomis - official census and labour market statistics. 2011.
25. "Home - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
26. "Plan:MK 2016-2031" (PDF). Milton Keynes City Council. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
27. "Local Authority Health Profile 2019: Milton Keynes". Public Health England. 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
28. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Milton Keynes Built-up area (E34005056)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 29 March 2019. (includes map of the built-up area).
29. "Neighbourhood Plans in Milton Keynes". Milton Keynes City Council. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
30. Using Historic England's Advanced search, specify Milton Keynes under ""District /Unitary Authority /Borough" and specify Grade and Heritage Category.
31. David Tooley (15 May 2020). "Tories want key workers in Milton Keynes to be awarded freedom of the borough". Milton Keynes Citizen. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
32. "Football boss 'overwhelmed' by award". BBC News. 22 August 2015.
33. "Proud city centre military march to commemorate Freedom of the Borough - Milton Keynes Council". www.milton-keynes.gov.uk.
34. "Congratulations to MK's Leah Williamson and The Lionesses". Milton Keynes Council. 1 August 2022.
35. Sally Murrer (28 February 2023). "England captain Leah Williamson awarded Freedom of the City of Milton Keynes". Milton Keynes Citizen. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
36. Lock, Toby (10 May 2025). "Freedom of the City granted to MK Dons legend Lewie as he confirms career plans". Milton Keynes Citizen. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
37. "Rifles squadron rewarded for service with 'Freedom of Milton Keynes' honour". ITV News. 11 March 2018.

External links

• Map on the Milton Keynes Council's website showing civil parishes in the borough.