Bridgnorth District was, between 1974 and 2009, a

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Its main town was

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. Histor ...

and other towns in its area were Much Wenlock,

Shifnal Shifnal is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, about east of Telford, 17 miles (27 km) east of the county town of Shrewsbury and 13 miles (20 km) west-northwest of the city of Wolverhampton. It is near the M5 ...

and

Broseley Broseley is a market town in Shropshire, England, with a population of 4,929 at the 2011 Census and an estimate of 5,022 in 2019. The River Severn flows to its north and east. The first The Iron Bridge, iron bridge in the world was built in 17 ...

. The villages of Albrighton and

Sheriffhales Sheriffhales is a scattered village in Shropshire, England, north-east of Telford, north of Shifnal and south of Newport. The name derives from Halh (Anglican) and scīr-rēfa (Old English) which is a combination of Hales (a nook of land, ...

as well as

RAF Cosford Royal Air Force Cosford or RAF Cosford (formerly DCAE Cosford) is a Royal Air Force station in Cosford, Shropshire, just to the northwest of Wolverhampton and next to Albrighton. History Origins RAF Cosford opened in 1938 as a joint aircraf ...

were also in the district.

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. The district covered the former

Bridgnorth Rural District Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. History B ...

, and nearly all of the

Shifnal Rural District {{inline, date=February 2020 Shifnal was a rural district in Shropshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It was created from the Shifnal rural sanitary district by the Local Government Act 1894. Until 1934 it also administered two parishes in Staff ...

, excluding a small part of

parish within the area of

Telford Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in t ...

New Town, which went to

Wrekin The Wrekin is a hill in east Shropshire, England. It is located some five miles (8 km) west of Telford, on the border between the unitary authorities of Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. Rising above the Shropshire Plain to a height of 4 ...

district. The former

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

s of Much Wenlock and Bridgnorth had been converted into rural boroughs in 1966 and 1967 respectively, making them part of Bridgnorth Rural District whilst retaining some of their civic dignities such as the right to appoint a mayor. The new district created in 1974 was administered by Bridgnorth District Council until abolition on 31 March 2009. From 1 April 2009 the area was administered by the new Shropshire unitary authority created as part of the

2009 structural changes to local government in England Structural changes to local government in England were effected on 1 April 2009, whereby a number of new unitary authorities were created in parts of the country which previously operated a "two-tier" system of counties and districts. In five s ...

Energy policy

In May 2006, a report commissioned by

British Gas British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Servi ...

br>
showed that housing in the district of Bridgnorth produced the 12th highest average carbon emissions in the country at 7,176 kg of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...

per dwelling.

Political control

The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority until coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 2009 was held by the following parties:

Leadership

The last

leader of the council In England, local authorities are required to adopt one of three types of executive arrangements, having either an "elected mayor and cabinet", a "leader and cabinet", or a "committee system". The type of arrangement used determines how decisions ...

was Elizabeth Yeomans, an independent.

Council elections

* 1973 Bridgnorth District Council election * 1976 Bridgnorth District Council election * 1979 Bridgnorth District Council election (New ward boundaries) * 1983 Bridgnorth District Council election *

1987 Bridgnorth District Council election File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

1991 Bridgnorth District Council election File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, 1991 Russian presidential election, elected as Russia's first President of Russia, president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated ...

(District boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same) *

1995 Bridgnorth District Council election File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

* 1999 Bridgnorth District Council election * 2003 Bridgnorth District Council election (New ward boundaries)legislation.gov.uk
The District of Bridgnorth (Electoral Changes) Order 2000
Retrieved on 4 October 2015. * 2007 Bridgnorth District Council election

By-election results

References

English districts abolished in 2009 Districts of England established in 1974 Former non-metropolitan districts of Shropshire Bridgnorth Council elections in Shropshire District council elections in England {{Authority control