Borough of Swindon | |
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 Shown withinWiltshire | |
| Coordinates:51°33′47″N1°45′47″W / 51.563°N 1.763°W /51.563; -1.763 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Constituent country | England |
| Region | South West England |
| Ceremonial county | Wiltshire |
| Status | Unitary authority |
| Admin HQ | Swindon |
| Government | |
| • Type | Unitary authority |
| • Body | Swindon Borough Council |
| • Leadership | Leader & Cabinet (Labour) |
| • MPs | Heidi Alexander (L) Will Stone (L) Danny Kruger (R) |
| Area | |
• Total | 88.84 sq mi (230.10 km2) |
| • Rank | 137th(of 296) |
| Population (2024) | |
• Total | 243,875 |
| • Rank | 78th(of 296) |
| • Density | 2,745.0/sq mi (1,059.9/km2) |
| Ethnicity(2021) | |
| • Ethnic groups | |
| Religion(2021) | |
| • Religion | List
|
| Time zone | UTC0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ISO 3166 | GB-SWD |
| ONS code | 00HX (ONS) E06000030 (GSS) |
| OS grid reference | SU164849 |
| Website | Official website |
TheBorough of Swindon is aunitary authority area withborough status inWiltshire, England. Centred onSwindon, it is the most north-easterly district ofSouth West England.
The first borough of Swindon was amunicipal borough, created in 1900 as a merger of the twourban districts of Old Swindon and New Swindon.[2]
In 1974, the borough ofThamesdown was created under theLocal Government Act 1972. Thamesdown covered the areas of the municipal borough of Swindon and the neighbouringHighworth Rural District (which had been created in 1894), which were both abolished at the same time.[3][4] Thamesdown was a lower-tiernon-metropolitan district, withWiltshire County Council being the higher-tier authority for the area. Thamesdown was givenborough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[5]
On 1 April 1997 Thamesdown was made aunitary authority, making it administratively independent from Wiltshire County Council.[6] In June 1996, during the transition period to becoming a unitary authority, the council passed an order that the area would be renamed Swindon with effect from 1 April 1997 as well.[7] The former Thamesdown name and logo continued to be used by the municipal bus operator,Thamesdown Transport, until 2017 when it was sold and renamed to "Swindon's Bus Company".[8] Swindon remains part of theceremonial county of Wiltshire for the purposes oflieutenancy.[9]
The borough of Swindon encompasses an area forming the north east corner ofWiltshire and is bordered by two other counties,Gloucestershire (to the north) andOxfordshire (to the east).West Berkshire is also only a short distance from the borough's south-eastern frontier.The generally hilly landscape is sculpted by the upperThames guiding the northern border, small tributaries draining into the Thames, and theMarlborough Downs rising toward the south.
The borough encompasses the Swindon urban area and surrounding countryside to the north, east and south, including the town of Highworth. It comprises the former Swindon Municipal Borough and a further 18civil parishes:[10][11]
Since 1 April 2017 the entire Borough has been parished, following the establishment of West Swindon parish and the creation ofCentral Swindon North andCentral Swindon South[11] (styled by its parish council as South Swindon).[12][13] The two central parishes fall within the boundaries of the town and former municipal borough, divided along theGreat Western Main Line railway.
At the same time:
The population of theBorough of Swindon was historically ethnically homogeneous,White British, but is now becoming less homogeneous, with the largest ethnic group, White British, constituting 74.2% of the population in the 2021 census. This proportion has consistently declined in each modern census, down from 91.5% in the2001 census.
In the 2021 census, the ethnic composition of the Borough of Swindon comprised: 81.5% White, 11.6% Asian, 2.6% Black, 2.8% Mixed, and 1.5% Other.
Note: Sub-group totals may not sum exactly to the group total due to rounding.
| Ethnic Group | 2001 Census[14] | 2011 Census[15] | 2021 Census[16] |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 95.2% | 89.8% | 81.5% |
| Asian | 2.6% | 6.4% | 11.6% |
| Black | 0.7% | 1.4% | 2.6% |
| Mixed | 1.1% | 2.0% | 2.8% |
| Other | 0.4% | 0.4% | 1.5% |
Note: The 2001 census figures for 'Asian' and 'Other' have been adjusted to reflect the 2011 reclassification of the Chinese ethnic group from 'Other' to 'Asian' to allow comparison across census years.
In the 2021 census, the religious composition of the Borough of Swindon comprised: 46.6% Christian, 40.5% No religion, 2.7% Muslim, 2.5% Hindu, 0.7% Buddhist, 0.6% Sikh, 0.1% Jewish, 0.6% Other religion, and 5.6% Not stated.
| Religion | 2001 Census[17] | 2011 Census[18] | 2021 Census[19] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christian | 70.1% | 57.5% | 46.6% |
| No religion | 19.1% | 31.0% | 40.5% |
| Muslim | 1.0% | 1.7% | 2.7% |
| Hindu | 0.6% | 1.2% | 2.5% |
| Buddhist | 0.3% | 0.6% | 0.7% |
| Sikh | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% |
| Jewish | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Other religion | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.6% |
| Not stated | 7.9% | 6.8% | 5.6% |
The council follows a leader and cabinet model[20] and has 57 members elected by 20 wards.[21] Elections are held in three out of every four years, with one-third of the seats being elected at each election.[21] From the first election in 1996 to the2000 election,Labour had a majority on the council. Following a period where no party had a majority, theConservatives gained a majority at the2003 election and had control until the2023 election, when Labour took control.
The borough is divided into three Parliamentary constituencies.Swindon North andSwindon South are wholly within the boundaries of the borough of Swindon, whileEast Wiltshire includes the Swindon borough council wards of Wroughton & Wichelstowe and Ridgeway, and the parish ofChiseldon.[22] Swindon North and Swindon South are seen as key marginal seats at general elections, having beenbellwether seats since 1997 when their predecessor constituencies were created; currently both seats are held by the Labour Party. East Wiltshire was won by the Conservative candidateDanny Kruger when it was first contested in 2024; in 2025 he switched allegiance to Reform UK.[23]
In the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, the Borough of Swindon electorate voted in favour ofBrexit, with 54.7% supporting withdrawal from the European Union and 45.3% opting to remain a member.[24]
| Authority control databases: Geographic |
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