Borough of Rushcliffe | |
|---|---|
 West Bridgford, the largest settlement in the borough and the administrative centre | |
 Shown withinNottinghamshire | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Constituent country | England |
| Region | East Midlands |
| Administrative county | Nottinghamshire |
| Admin. HQ | West Bridgford |
| Government | |
| • Type | Rushcliffe Borough Council |
| • MPs: | James Naish Robert Jenrick |
| Area | |
• Total | 158 sq mi (409 km2) |
| • Rank | 84th |
| Population (2024) | |
• Total | 126,736 |
| • Rank | Ranked 194th |
| • Density | 803/sq mi (310/km2) |
| Ethnicity(2021) | |
| • Ethnic groups | |
| Religion(2021) | |
| • Religion | List
|
| Time zone | UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (British Summer Time) |
| ONS code | 37UJ (ONS) E07000176 (GSS) |
| Ethnicity | 94.1% White 2.7% S.Asian 1.0% Black 1.3% Mixed 0.9% Chinese or Other[2] |
Rushcliffe is alocal government district withborough status in southNottinghamshire, England. Its council is based inWest Bridgford. The borough also includes the towns ofBingham andCotgrave as well as numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Some of the built-up areas in the north-west of the borough, including West Bridgford, form part of theNottingham Urban Area.
The neighbouring districts areBroxtowe,Nottingham,Gedling,Newark and Sherwood,Melton,Charnwood,North West Leicestershire andErewash.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972. The new district covered the whole area of two former districts and part of a third, which were all abolished at the same time:[3]
The new district was named after the ancientRushcliffe Wapentake, which had covered part of the area.[4] Rushcliffe means "cliff wherebrushwood grows", fromOld Englishhris "brushwood" and clif "cliff". The new Rushcliffe district was granted borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[5]
Rushcliffe Borough Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Adam Hill since 3 February 2025[7] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 44 councillors |
 | |
Political groups |
|
| Elections | |
| First past the post | |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
Next election | 2027 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Rushcliffe Arena, Rugby Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 7YG | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Rushcliffe Borough Council providesdistrict-level services.County-level services are provided byNottinghamshire County Council. Most of the borough is also covered bycivil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[9]
The council has been underConservative majority control since 1999.
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[10][11]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 1974–1995 | |
| No overall control | 1995–1999 | |
| Conservative | 1999–present | |
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Rushcliffe. Political leadership is instead provided by theleader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Swanwick[12] | Conservative | 1974 | 1976 | |
| Ray Cook[12] | Conservative | 1976 | 1979 | |
| Jim Swanwick[12] | Conservative | 1979 | May 1987 | |
| Ray Cook[12][13] | Conservative | May 1987 | May 1995 | |
| George Buckley[13][14] | Conservative | May 1995 | May 2005 | |
| Neil Clarke[15][16][17] | Conservative | 12 May 2005 | 25 May 2017 | |
| Simon Robinson[17][18][19] | Conservative | 25 May 2017 | May 2023 | |
| Neil Clarke[19] | Conservative | 25 May 2023 | ||
Following the2023 election,[20] and subsequent changes of allegiance up to October 2025, the composition of the council was:[21]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 23 | |
| Labour | 9 | |
| Independent | 6 | |
| Green | 2 | |
| Rushcliffe Independents | 2 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 1 | |
| Reform | 1 | |
| Total | 44 | |
Of the six independent councillors, three sit together as the "Leake Independents" group and two sit together as the "Bingham Independents" group.[22] The next election is due in 2027.[21]
The council is based at the Ruscliffe Arena on Rugby Road in West Bridgford. The building is a combined leisure centre and council headquarters. The council moved into the new building in December 2016 and the leisure centre opened the following month.[23] From 1982 to 2016 the council was based at Rushcliffe Civic Centre on Pavilion Road in West Bridgford, overlookingTrent Bridge. That building had been built in 1966 as a hotel called the Bridgford Hotel.[24][25]
Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 44councillors representing 24wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.[26]
The wards are:[26]
The borough straddles two parliamentary constituencies. Most of the borough is in theRushcliffe constituency. The north-eastern part of the borough around Bingham and surrounding villages is in theNewark constituency.[27]
South-east ofNottingham, the Rushcliffe boundary splits from the City of Nottingham boundary near theHolme Pierrepont Watersports Centre and then follows theRiver Trent to nearRAF Syerston, which is the most northern part of the district, althoughSyerston the village itself is in theNewark and Sherwood district. It meets theRiver Devon nearCotham, then follows this river to the east southwards to where it meets theLeicestershire boundary. To the south, the Leicestershire/Rushcliffe boundary crosses the runways of the formerRAF Langar with most of the airfield in Rushcliffe.
Rushcliffe is split between an urbanised north-west, containing suburbs ofGreater Nottingham that have not been incorporated into the city, and the south and east which is predominantly rural, which stretches to the Leicestershire border. Many of these villages lie in theVale of Belvoir. TheGrantham Canal threads from nearbyGrantham through Rushcliffe to theRiver Trent. Villages in theVale of Belvoir includeRedmile,Hickling,Harby,Stathern andLangar. Geographically, theRiver Soar marks the divide between the two counties.
The former West Bridgford Urban District is anunparished area.[27] The rest of the borough is divided intocivil parishes. The parish councils for Bingham and Cotgrave take the style "town council". Some of the smaller parishes have aparish meeting rather than a parish council.[28]
In terms of television, Rushcliffe is served byBBC East Midlands andITV Central with television signals received from theWaltham transmitter[29] and the Nottingham relay transmitter.[30]
Radio stations for the area are:
Rushcliffe Spencer Academy andWest Bridgford school have ranked regularly in the top 100 comprehensive schools in the UK for GCSE results. In 2014 West Bridgford was ranked at 63rd of all comprehensives in the UK with 83% achieving '5+ A*-C GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and maths GCSEs' and Rushcliffe 81st in the UK with 82% achieving 5 A*-C in 2014.[31]
TheBecket School (partly geographically outside the Rushcliffe district), West Bridgford School and Rushcliffe Spencer Academy getA level results for 'Average point score per A level student (full-time equivalent)' in the top 10% of all schools in the UK, comprehensive or selective, better than many Englishgrammar schools.[32] These scores are in the top 2% for all UK comprehensives.
Sutton Bonington is in the south of the district, which has theSutton Bonington Campus of theUniversity of Nottingham.
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Media related toBorough of Rushcliffe at Wikimedia Commons
