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.

Borough of Wellingborough
Non-metropolitan district and borough
Shown within Northamptonshire
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	East Midlands
Ceremonial county	Northamptonshire
Admin. HQ	Wellingborough
Government
• Type	Borough Council of Wellingborough
• Leadership:	Alternative - Sec.31
• Executive:
• Leader of the Council	Cllr. Martin Griffiths
Area
• Total	62.95 sq mi (163.04 km2)
Population  (2019)
• Total	79,707
• Density	1,300/sq mi (490/km2)
Time zone	UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
ONS code	34UH (ONS) E07000156 (GSS)
Ethnicity	90.8% White 4.5% S.Asian 2.5% Afro-Caribbean
Website	wellingborough.gov.uk

The local council preferred to call itself the "Borough Council of Wellingborough" rather than the more usual form "Wellingborough Borough Council".

The borough covered almost the same area as the Wellingborough constituency. It was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the borough of Wellingborough with Wellingborough Rural District.

The borough bordered the districts of South Northamptonshire, Northampton, Kettering, Daventry and East Northamptonshire, as well as Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, and Bedford in Bedfordshire.

Abolition and replacement

In March 2018, following suspension of the County Council arising from its becoming insolvent, due to financial and cultural mismanagement by the cabinet and officers, 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. 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 Corby, East Northamptonshire, Kettering and Wellingborough districts. These new authorities came into being on 1 April 2021. Elections for the new authorities were due to be held on 7 May 2020, but were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Concurrent with these changes, the unparished area of Wellingborough was established as a civil parish and gained a Town Council.

Settlements and parishes

Other than Wellingborough itself the borough included:

• Bozeat
• Earls Barton
• Easton Maudit
• Ecton
• Finedon
• Great Doddington
• Great Harrowden
• Grendon
• Hardwick
• Irchester
• Isham
• Little Harrowden,
• Little Irchester
• Mears Ashby
• Orlingbury
• Strixton
• Sywell
• Wilby
• Wollaston

Political control

See Wellingborough Borough Council elections

Arms

Coat of arms of Borough of Wellingborough

Crest On a wreath of the colours in front of an annulet embattled on the outer edge per pale Gules and Sable a Garb Or. Escutcheon Per pale Gules and Or five roundels barry wavy of six those on the dexter Or and Gules and those on the sinister Gules and Or the centre roundel Or and Gules per pale counter-changed. Supporters On the dexter side a bull guardant Sable armed and supporting an abbatical crozier Or with veil Proper and on the sinister side a lion guardant Or armed and langued Gules supporting with the front paw a currier's shave Proper. Motto Forward Together Badge A roundel barry wavy of six Gules and Or ensigned with a mural crown also Or with flames issuant Proper.