The district is named after its largest settlement, Preston, which lies in the south of the district. The district also includes rural areas to the north of the main urban area, including part of the Forest of Bowland, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In 2002 the district was granted city status to mark the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II; prior to this it was known as the Borough of Preston, having held borough status since its creation in 1974.[4][5]
The current district of Preston was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole area of two former districts and a large part of a third, which were all abolished at the same time:[9][10][11]
The new district was a non-metropolitan district, forming a lower tier of local government with Lancashire County Council providing county-level services. The district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Preston's sequence of mayors which dates back to at least the fourteenth century.[6][12] In other new towns across England the 1974 reforms brought the whole designated area for the new town within a single district, but the Central Lancashire New Town was allowed to straddle the new districts of Preston, South Ribble and Chorley.[9] The Development Corporation was wound up in 1986 and planning powers transferred to the local councils.[13]
In 2002 the borough of Preston was awarded city status to mark the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The council therefore changed its name from Preston Borough Council to Preston City Council.[14][15] Like numerous other places granted city status since 1889, Preston has no Anglican cathedral. Instead, following the granting of city status, Preston's parish church was elevated by the Church of England to the status of Minster Church in June 2003.[16]
The council has been under Labour majority control since 2011.
The first election to the enlarged Preston Borough Council created by the Local Government Act 1972 was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[24][25]
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Preston. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1992 have been:[26]
Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 48 councillors representing 16 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) being elected at a time for a four-year term. Lancashire County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no city council elections.[31]
Wider politics
The City of Preston is currently divided between three Westminster constituencies, namely Preston, Wyre and Preston North, and Fylde. The three seats are all safe seats, with all Members of Parliament holding over 50% of the vote for their respective parties.
Historically, Preston has been divided between such constituencies as Preston North, Preston South, and Fylde South, although until 1885 it comprised one constituency called Preston, which actually included most of West Lancashire.
Geography
Physical geography
Topography of the City of Preston
The City of Preston district is a transitional region between coastal plain, river valley and moorland. The west of the district lies within the flat coastal plain of the Fylde. The southern border is the River Ribble which meanders through a flood plain in a wide, steep-sided valley. The northeast of the district lies within the Forest of BowlandArea of Outstanding Beauty.
The highest point is the summit of Beacon Fell at 266 m (873 ft) above sea level, an isolated fell two miles south of the main range of Bowland Fells just outside the district boundaries. The lowest point lies on the River Ribble in the southwest corner of the district. The Ribble here is tidal and therefore virtually at sea level. The course of the river west of Preston was artificially straightened in the 19th century, to ease passage of shipping to the docks.
The southern one-third of the district, most of which is covered by Preston and its suburbs, drains into Savick Brook running east-to-west and then turning south into the Ribble. The lowest section of the brook has been widened into the Ribble Link which connects the Lancaster Canal to the Ribble. The central and northern parts of the district drain into south- and west-flowing tributaries of the River Brock, itself a tributary of the Wyre whose estuary is at Fleetwood. The Brock forms part of the district boundary on the west and north sides of Beacon Fell. A small part of the district along the eastern boundary drains into the east-flowing River Loud, a tributary of the Hodder.
The lowland area in the north and east of the district, between Beacon Fell and the Fylde, is a dairy farming area, particularly noted for its cheesemaking dairies. Six of the ten Lancashire Cheese dairies listed on the British Cheese Board's website in 2011 are located in the City of Preston district (and the other four are only a few miles outside).[32]Beacon Fell Traditional Lancashire Cheese is a Protected Designation of Origin cheese named after Beacon Fell.[33]
Like most of inland Lancashire, Preston receives a higher than UK average total of rainfall, and is slightly colder. On 10 August 1893 Preston entered the UK Weather Records, with the Highest 5-min totalrainfall of 32 mm. As of November 2008 this remains a record.[34]
Preston is a diverse city, although the majority of the ethnic minorities are South Asians, in particular Indians. The ethnic makeup of Preston based on the 2011 census is as follows (With average for England in brackets): 75.8% White British (79.8%), 0.8% White Irish (1.0%), 3.5% Other White (4.6%). 2.3% Mixed Race (2.2%). 10.3% Indian (2.6%), 3.2% Pakistani (2.1%), 0.3% Bangladeshi (0.8%), 0.9% Other Asian (1.5%). 0.6% Black Caribbean (1.1%), 0.5% Black African (1.8%), 0.1% Other Black (0.5%). 0.9% Chinese (0.7%), 0.4% Arab (0.4%) and 0.3% other (0.6%).[35]
In 2008 a survey revealed that 50% of all children living in the city were living in families suffering from financial depression. An estimated 15,380 youngsters were part of the families on the breadline. The Campaign to End Child Poverty report defined children in poverty as children living in homes where occupants work less than 16 hours a week, or not at all, or where the full amount of tax credit is being claimed. The city was one of the most severely affected areas of the North West outside Liverpool and Manchester, with 21% of children in the city living in households which were completely workless and a further 29% in families struggling to get by with working tax credits. The two worst affected areas of the city were the Deepdale and St George's wards, where 75% and 77% of children respectively were said to be living in poverty.[41][needs update]
The 2001 Census recorded 72% of the population as Christians, 10% as having no religion, and 8% as Muslim.[44] The Hindu and Sikh populations are smaller at 3% and 0.6% respectively, but in both cases this represents the highest percentage of any local authority area in the North West. 2% of the city's population were born in other EU countries.
The main urban area, broadly covering the combined area of the pre-1974 Preston County Borough and Fulwood Urban District, is an unparished area. The remainder of the district is divided into nine civil parishes:
Ken Hudson JP MBE, Mayor 1993–1994, Leader of the City 2007–2011, admitted in recognition of his 36 years' service to the council and the citizens of Preston, August 2014.[citation needed]
^Butler's, JJ Sandhams, Greenfields, Mrs Kirkham's, Shorrocks and Carron Lodge, The Lancashire DairiesArchived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, British Cheese Board, accessed 4 August 2011
