North Northamptonshire | |
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Coordinates: 52°24′00″N0°43′41″W / 52.400°N 0.728°W | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Country | England |
Region | East Midlands |
Ceremonial county | Northamptonshire |
Incorporated | 1 April 2021 |
Administrative HQ | Corby Cube |
Government | |
• Type | Unitary authority with leader and cabinet |
• Body | North Northamptonshire Council |
• Control | Conservative |
• Leader | Jason Smithers (C) |
• Chair | Barbara Jenney |
• Chief Executive | Adele Wylie |
• House of Commons | 3 MPs
|
Area | |
• Total | 380.9 sq mi (986.6 km2) |
• Rank | 25th |
Population (2021) [3] | |
• Total | 360,381 |
• Rank | 23rd |
• Density | 950/sq mi (365/km2) |
Ethnicity (2021) | |
• Ethnic groups | |
Religion (2021) | |
• Religion | List
|
Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
Postcode area | |
Dialling codes |
|
ISO 3166 code | GB-NNH |
GSS code | E06000061 |
ITL code | TLF25 |
GVA | 2021 estimate [5] |
•Total | £7.4 billion |
•Per capita | £20,612 |
GDP (nominal) | 2021 estimate [5] |
•Total | £8.5 billion |
•Per capita | £23,536 |
Website | northnorthants |
North Northamptonshire is one of two local government districts in Northamptonshire, England. It is a unitary authority area forming about one half of the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire. It was created in 2021. [6] Its council is based in Corby, the district's largest town. Other notable towns are Kettering, Wellingborough, Rushden, Raunds, Desborough, Rothwell, Irthlingborough, Thrapston and Oundle.
It has a string of lakes along the Nene Valley Conservation Park, associated heritage railway, the village of Fotheringhay which has tombs of the House of York as well as a towering church supported by flying buttresses. This division has a well-preserved medieval castle in private hands next to Corby – Rockingham Castle – and about 20 other notable country houses, many of which have visitor gardens or days.
North Northamptonshire was created on 1 April 2021 by the merger of the four non-metropolitan districts of Corby, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, and Wellingborough. It absorbed the functions of these districts, plus those of the abolished Northamptonshire County Council.
In March 2018, following financial and cultural mismanagement by the cabinet and officers at Northamptonshire County Council, the then Secretary of State for Local Government, Sajid Javid, sent commissioner Max Caller into the council, who recommended the county council and all-district and borough councils in the county be abolished, and replaced by two unitary authorities, one covering the West, and one the North of the county. [7] These proposals were approved in April 2019. It meant that the districts of Daventry, Northampton, and South Northamptonshire were merged to form a new unitary authority called West Northamptonshire, whilst the second unitary authority North Northamptonshire consists of the former Corby, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, and Wellingborough districts. [8] [9]
The Council logo depicts Rockingham Castle, the River Welland and a Red kite - a bird of prey that has become strongly associated with the county of Northamptonshire and is particularly commonplace in the north-eastern parts of the county around Corby and Rockingham Forest. [10]
North Northamptonshire Council | |
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Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Adele Wylie since 27 January 2024 [13] | |
Structure | |
Political groups |
|
Elections | |
Last election | 6 May 2021 |
Next election | 1 May 2025 |
Meeting place | |
The Cube, George Street, Corby, NN17 1QG [15] | |
Website | |
www |
North Northamptonshire Council provides both county-level and district-level services. The whole area is also covered by civil parishes, which form a second tier of local government. [16]
Since its creation in 2021, the Conservatives have held a majority of the seats on the council:
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Conservative | 2021–present |
The leader of the council from its first meeting following its creation in 2021 has been:
Councillor | Party | Councillors | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jason Smithers | Conservative | 52 | 26 May 2021 |
Russell Roberts, outgoing leader of the old Kettering Borough Council, had served as leader of the shadow authority set up to oversee the transition to the new arrangements. [17]
Matt Keane Is leader of the Labour Group, Emily Fedorowycz is leader of the Green Alliance and Cedwien Brown is Leader of The Independent Alliance
Councillor | Party | Councillors | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Matt Keane | Labour | 17 | 25 May 2023 | ||
Emily Fedorowycz | Green | 4 (alliance Group) | 26 May 2021 | ||
Cedwien Brown | Independent | 4 (alliance Group) | 7 March 2024 |
As at March 2024, the composition of the council was:
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Conservative | 52 | |
Labour | 17 | |
Green | 3 | |
Independent | 4 | |
Liberal Democrats | 1 | |
Vacant | 1 | |
Total | 78 |
Elections for a shadow authority were due to be held on Thursday 7 May 2020, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These elections were instead held on 6 May 2021 and the Conservatives won a majority of seats. The Council comprises 78 councillors elected across 26 wards.
The council inherited four sets of offices from the predecessor authorities, being the Corby Cube, the Kettering Municipal Offices, Swanspool House in Wellingborough, and the old East Northamptonshire District Council offices on Cedar Drive in Thrapston. The Corby Cube was chosen as the main meeting place. [15] The other buildings serve as area offices. [18] [19]
The parish councils for Burton Latimer, Corby, Desborough, Finedon, Higham Ferrers, Irthlingborough, Kettering, Oundle, Raunds, Rothwell, Rushden, Thrapston and Wellingborough have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council". [20]
Northamptonshire is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire to the south and Warwickshire to the west. Northampton is the largest settlement and the county town.
Wellingborough is a market town and civil parish in the North Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. It is 65 miles (105 km) from London and 11 miles (18 km) from Northampton, and is on the north side of the River Nene.
Raunds is a market town in North Northamptonshire, England. It had a population of 9,379 at the 2021 census.
Rushden is a town and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, around 18 miles (29 km) east of Northampton. The parish is on the border with Bedfordshire, 12 miles (19 km) north of Bedford.
Kettering is a market and industrial town in the North Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. It forms a civil parish called Kettering Town. Kettering is located 67 miles (108 km) north of London and 15 miles (24 km) north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place of Ketter's people ".
East Northamptonshire was a local government district in Northamptonshire, England, from 1974 to 2021. Its council was based in Thrapston and Rushden. Other towns included Oundle, Raunds, Irthlingborough and Higham Ferrers. The town of Rushden was by far the largest settlement in the district. The population of the district at the 2011 Census was 86,765.
The Borough of Kettering was a local government district and borough in Northamptonshire, England, from 1974 to 2021. It was named after its main town, Kettering, where the council was based. It bordered onto the district of Harborough in the neighbouring county of Leicestershire, the borough of Corby, the district of East Northamptonshire, the district of Daventry and the borough of Wellingborough.
The Borough of Wellingborough was a non-metropolitan district and borough in Northamptonshire, England, from 1974 to 2021. It was named after Wellingborough, its main town, but also included surrounding rural areas.
The history of Northamptonshire spans the same period as English history.
Corby is a constituency in Northamptonshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since May 2015 by Tom Pursglove of the Conservative Party.
Wellingborough is a constituency in Northamptonshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The seat is currently held by Labour MP Gen Kitchen, after the recall of MP Peter Bone in December 2023 which resulted in a by-election in February 2024.
Wellingborough railway station is a Grade II listed station located in the market town of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, England. It lies on the Midland Main Line and is 65 miles (104 km) from London St. Pancras. The station is operated by East Midlands Railway, which is also the primary operator serving the station with passenger services under the Luton Airport Express brand.
The Northamptonshire Combination Football League is a football competition based in England. It has a total of five divisions with many reserve teams competing in the bottom three. The most senior league is the Premier Division, which sits at step 7 of the National League System.
The Northamptonshire Football Association, also simply known as the Northamptonshire FA, is the governing body of football in the English county of Northamptonshire.
A.F.C. Rushden & Diamonds is an English football club based in Rushden in Northamptonshire. They played their opening season at Kiln Park, the home of Raunds Town, in 2011–12 and subsequently shared the Dog & Duck ground with Wellingborough Town from July 2012 to the summer of 2017. A groundshare agreement with Rushden & Higham United was agreed for the 2017–18 season. The club was formed by supporters in July 2011, after Rushden & Diamonds, a former Football League club, were expelled from the Football Conference and liquidated.
Corby was a non-metropolitan district with borough status in the county of Northamptonshire, England. It bordered the East Northamptonshire district to the east, the Borough of Kettering to the south and west, the Harborough district of Leicestershire to the north-west, and the county of Rutland to the north-east. In 2021 the district had a population of 75,571. The council, Corby Borough Council was based at the Cube in the town of Corby.