The Borough of Chorley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, the town of Chorley. The borough also includes the town of Adlington and several villages.
The neighbouring districts are West Lancashire, South Ribble, Blackburn with Darwen, Bolton and Wigan.
History
The town of Chorley had been governed by improvement commissioners from 1853. The commissioners were reconstituted as a local board in 1863. The board was in turn replaced in 1881 when the town was made a municipal borough.
The modern district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of four former districts, which were all abolished at the same time: Adlington Urban District Chorley Municipal Borough Chorley Rural District Withnell Urban District The new district was named Chorley, and the borough status previously held by the town was passed to the new district on the day that it came into being, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Chorley's series of mayors dating back to 1881.
Governance
Chorley Borough Council, which styles itself "Chorley Council", provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Lancashire County Council. Much of the borough is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.
Political control
The council has been under Labour majority control since 2012.
The first election to the reformed borough council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:
Leadership
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Chorley. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1990 have been:
Composition
Following the 2023 election and a by-election in September 2023, the composition of the council was:
The next election is due in 2024.
Elections
Since the last boundary changes in 2020 the council has comprised 42 councillors representing 14 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four year term of office. Lancashire County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections.
The wards are:
Adlington & Anderton
Buckshaw & Whittle
Chorley East
Chorley North East
Chorley North West
Chorley North & Astley
Chorley South East & Heath Charnock
Chorley South West
Clayton East, Brindle & Hoghton
Clayton West & Cuerden
Coppull
Croston, Mawdesley & Euxton South
Eccleston, Heskin & Charnock Richard
Euxton
The Chorley constituency was coterminous with the borough from 1997 until 2010 when Croston, Eccleston, Bretherton and Mawdesley were transferred to the South Ribble constituency. The current Member of Parliament for Chorley is Lindsay Hoyle, who was first elected to the seat in 1997.
Premises
The council's main offices are at the Civic Offices on Union Street in Chorley. Council meetings are held at Chorley Town Hall on Market Street, which had been completed in 1879 for the old local board.
Parishes
The borough contains 23 civil parishes. The parish council for Adlington takes the style "town council". The central part of the borough, roughly corresponding to the pre-1974 borough of Chorley, is an unparished area. Adlington Anderton Anglezarke Astley Village Bretherton Brindle Charnock Richard Clayton-le-Woods Coppull Croston Cuerden Eccleston Euxton Heapey Heath Charnock Heskin Hoghton Mawdesley Rivington Ulnes Walton Wheelton Whittle-le-Woods Withnell
Settlements
Freedom of the Borough
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Chorley.
Individuals
Sir Henry Hibbert: 25 September 1922. James Winder Stone: 25 September 1922. Arnold Gillett: 17 June 1931. J. Fearnhead: 12 July 1944. Douglas Hacking, 1st Baron Hacking: 30 November 1946. Bertha Maude Gillett: 24 November 1960.
Military Units
The Queen's Lancashire Regiment: 2005. 5 General Medical Support Regiment RAMC: 2007. The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: 2007. 3 Medical Regiment: 6 June 2015. The Lancashire Constabulary.