Stratford-on-Avon District | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Shown withinWarwickshire | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Constituent country | England |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Administrative county | Warwickshire |
| Admin. HQ | Stratford-upon-Avon |
| Government | |
| • Type | Non-metropolitan district |
| • MPs: | Manuela Perteghella (LD) Jeremy Wright (C) |
| Area | |
• Total | 978 km2 (378 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 27th |
| Population (2024) | |
• Total | 146,258 |
| • Rank | Ranked 158th |
| • Density | 150/km2 (387/sq mi) |
| Ethnicity(2021) | |
| • Ethnic groups | |
| Religion(2021) | |
| • Religion | List
|
| Time zone | UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (British Summer Time) |
| ONS code | 44UE (ONS) E07000221 (GSS) |
Stratford-on-Avon is alocal government district inWarwickshire, England. The district is named after its largest town ofStratford-upon-Avon, but with a change of preposition; the town uses "upon" and the district uses "on". The council is based in Stratford-upon-Avon and the district, which is predominantly rural, also includes the towns ofAlcester,Henley-in-Arden,Shipston-on-Stour andSoutham, and the large villages ofBidford-on-Avon,Studley andWellesbourne, plus numerous other smaller villages and hamlets and surrounding rural areas. The district covers the more sparsely populated southern part of Warwickshire, and contains nearly half the county's area. The district includes part of theCotswolds, a designatedArea of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The neighbouring districts areRugby andWarwick in Warwickshire,Solihull in theWest Midlands,Bromsgrove,Redditch andWychavon inWorcestershire,Cotswold inGloucestershire,West Oxfordshire andCherwell inOxfordshire, andWest Northamptonshire.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972. The new district covered the area of five former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:[2]
The new district was named Stratford-on-Avon after its main town, but using the "Stratford-on-Avon" variant of the name, which had also been used for therural district which had covered the parishes surrounding the town.[3][4]
Proposals to merge the district with neighbouring Warwick District were put forward and provisionally agreed, before eventually being abandoned in April 2022.[5][6]
Stratford-on-Avon District Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
David Buckland since June 2019[8] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 41 councillors |
Political groups |
|
Length of term | 4 years |
| Elections | |
| First past the post | |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Elizabeth House, Church Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6HX | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Stratford-on-Avon District Council providesdistrict-level services.County-level services are provided byWarwickshire County Council.[9] The whole district is also covered bycivil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[10]
The council has been underLiberal Democrat majority control since the2023 election.[11]
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing councils before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[12][13][14]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Independent | 1974–1976 | |
| No overall control | 1976–1979 | |
| Conservative | 1979–1991 | |
| No overall control | 1991–1992 | |
| Conservative | 1992–1994 | |
| No overall control | 1994–2000 | |
| Conservative | 2000–2002 | |
| No overall control | 2002–2003 | |
| Conservative | 2003–2023 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 2023–present | |
Theleaders of the council since 2000 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Stevens[15][16] | Conservative | 2000 | May 2003 | |
| Chris Saint[16][17] | Conservative | 21 May 2003 | Jan 2005 | |
| Les Topham[17][18] | Conservative | 7 Feb 2005 | May 2010 | |
| Stephen Gray[19][20] | Conservative | 19 May 2010 | 18 May 2011 | |
| Chris Saint[20][21] | Conservative | 18 May 2011 | 11 May 2018 | |
| Tony Jefferson[22][23] | Conservative | 16 May 2018 | May 2023 | |
| Susan Juned[24] | Liberal Democrats | 24 May 2023 | ||
Following the2023 election,[25] and subsequent changes of allegiance up to March 2025, the composition of the council was:[26]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | 25 | |
| Conservative | 10 | |
| Green | 3 | |
| Independent | 2 | |
| Reform UK | 1 | |
| Total | 41 | |
The next election is due in 2027.[26]
Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 41councillors representing 39wards, with each ward electing one or two councillors. Elections are held every four years.[27]
The council is based at Elizabeth House on Church Street in Stratford.[28] The oldest part of the building was a house at 15 Church Street, built in 1911 as "Maugersbury House". The house was bought in 1920 byNFU Mutual and converted to be their offices. It was later extended in a similar style along Church Street in 1927 and 1957. The NFU left the building in 1982, after which it was bought by the council and converted to become their offices and meeting place, replacing the five sets of offices inherited from the council's predecessor authorities.[29] The building was formally re-opened as the council's headquarters on 19 April 1985 byQueen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, when it was named "Elizabeth House" in recognition of her visit.[30]
The whole district is covered bycivil parishes, of which there are 113. The parish councils for Alcester, Shipston-on-Stour, Southam and Stratford-upon-Avon have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council". Some of the smaller parishes have aparish meeting rather than a parish council or share a grouped parish council with neighbouring parishes. Henley-in-Arden and Studley are bothpost towns, but have parish councils rather than town councils.[31]
The parishes are:[32]
52°11′25″N1°42′31″W / 52.1902°N 1.7087°W /52.1902; -1.7087
