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Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

Coordinates: 51°28′00″N 0°40′00″W / 51.4667°N 0.6667°W / 51.4667; -0.6667
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Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
Royal borough, unitary authority area, borough
Coat of arms of Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
Coat of arms
Shown within Berkshire
Shown within Berkshire
Coordinates: 51°28′00″N 0°40′00″W / 51.4667°N 0.6667°W / 51.4667; -0.6667
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionSouth East England
Ceremonial countyBerkshire
StatusUnitary authority
Incorporated1 April 1974
Admin HQMaidenhead
Government
 • TypeUnitary authority
 • BodyWindsor and Maidenhead Borough Council
 • MPs
Area
 • Total76.61 sq mi (198.43 km2)
 • Rank146th (of 296)
Population
 (2022[1])
 • Total154,738
 • Rank138th (of 296)
 • Density2,000/sq mi (780/km2)
Ethnicity (2021)
[2]
 • Ethnic groups
List
Religion (2021)
[2]
 • Religion
List
Time zoneUTC0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code00ME (ONS) E06000040 (GSS)
OS grid referenceSU926750
Websitewww.rbwm.gov.uk

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a local government district with royal borough status in Berkshire, England. Its council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. The borough is named after its two largest towns of Maidenhead (where the council is based) and Windsor. The borough also includes the towns of Ascot and Eton, plus numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. It is home to Windsor Castle, Eton College, Legoland Windsor and Ascot Racecourse. It is one of only four boroughs in England entitled to be prefixed royal.

History

[edit]

The non-metropolitan district of Windsor and Maidenhead was created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, as one of six districts within Berkshire. It covered the whole area of five former districts and part of a sixth, which were all abolished at the same time:[3]

The two Eton districts had been in Buckinghamshire prior to the reforms. The new district was named 'Windsor and Maidenhead' after its two largest towns.[4] The district was also given the additional honorific title of royal borough, which had previously been held by the municipal borough of New Windsor.[5]

From 1974 until 1998 the council was a lower-tier authority, with Berkshire County Council providing county-level services. The county council was abolished in 1998 and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead took on county-level services, making it a unitary authority. Berkshire continues to legally exist as a ceremonial county and a non-metropolitan county, albeit without a county council.[6]

River Thames

[edit]

The borough straddles the River Thames. Approximately half of its flow through the borough has a bypass and seasonally-variable flood relief channel, the Jubilee River. Further flood relief channels are planned for the reaches below the Borough to benefit many other settlements including Datchet and Wraysbury in the borough which were the settlements most widely affected by the UK storms of January-February 2014.[7]

Towns and villages

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The borough contains the following towns and villages:

Governance

[edit]
Main article: Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council

Since 1998, the council has been a unitary authority, providing both district-level and county-level functions. It is based at Maidenhead Town Hall. Much of the borough is covered by civil parishes, which form an additional tier of local government for their areas, although the two largest towns of Maidenhead and Windsor are unparished.[8]

Westminster

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The Royal Borough is represented at Westminster by two members of parliament: Jack Rankin of the Conservative Party (for Windsor) and Joshua Reynolds of the Liberal Democrats (for Maidenhead). Maidenhead was held by the Conservative Party since its creation in 1997 until 2024. Windsor has been held by the same party since 1874 with varying representation from its 1484 creation including more than 350 initial years with two MPs. Small parts of other districts, notably Slough and Wokingham have intermittently been included in each constituency to prevent malapportionment which is a definition of boundaries which causes any MP to serve a significantly different number of potential voters (electors) than the others.[9][10]

The irregular, elongated shape of the Windsor seat being the south-east half of the Borough has been criticised by academics who noted the net changes which the Heath administration led through Parliament in 1972, implemented in 1974, intensified difference. They frequently grouped right-leaning suburban areas within urban historic centres and more modern, urban left-leaning areas such as the bulk of Slough. This ostensibly amounted to nationwide gerrymandering or homogenisation to install a greater number safe seats at the expense of marginal seats however also reflected the majority of social associations of people in each area.[11]

Parish and town councils

[edit]

There are 14 parish councils and 1 town council in the borough:

The towns of Maidenhead and Windsor are unparished.

Education

[edit]
Main article: List of schools in Windsor and Maidenhead

The Windsor and Maidenhead LEA provides a comprehensive system, with a three-tier successive school system in Windsor, and two-tier education elsewhere. Colleges and sixth forms are available in the main two towns as well as across its borders in Egham, Slough and Wokingham.[12]

Freedom of the Borough

[edit]

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

Individuals

[edit]

[13]

Military Units

[edit]

[14]

Twin towns

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The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is twinned with the following Towns:

References

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  1. ^ "Windsor and Maidenhead (Unitary District, Windsor and Maidenhead, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – Windsor and Maidenhead Local Authority (E06000040)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  3. ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 26 July 2024
  4. ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 26 July 2024
  5. ^ "The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (Electoral Changes) Order 2002", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2002/2372, retrieved 26 July 2024
  6. ^ "The Berkshire (Structural Change) Order 1996", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1996/1879, retrieved 9 May 2024
  7. ^ Lower Thames Strategy Study: Strategic Environmental Assessment environmental report, Environment Agency, 2009. Accessed 31-12-2017
  8. ^ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  9. ^ Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995 (SI 1995/1626)
  10. ^ The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) (Miscellaneous Changes) Order 1998 (SI 1998/3152).
  11. ^ Polity (magazine): 6:298 (147 and 183) "The Case of the Vanishing Marginals", D. R. Mayhew (1974)
  12. ^ "School system in Windsor to remain as three-tier". Windsor Advertiser. 5 July 2012.
  13. ^ "Honorary Freemen and Freedom of Entry to the Royal Borough | The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead". Archived from the original on 12 May 2019.
  14. ^ "Honorary Freemen and Freedom of Entry to the Royal Borough | The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead". Archived from the original on 12 February 2019.
  15. ^ "British towns twinned with French towns". Archant Community Media Ltd. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  1. ^ Maidenhead, The Royal Borough of Windsor and. "Borough elections 2023". www3.rbwm.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
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