Northampton Town Council
Parish council in Northampton, England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Northampton Town Council is the parish council covering the civil parish of Northampton, England. The council is the largest parish level authority in England by population served.[2] The council has its headquarters at Northampton Guildhall.[1]
Northampton Town Council | |
|---|---|
Coat of Arms of Northampton | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1 April 2020 (became full functioning a year later)[1] |
| Preceded by | Northampton Borough Council |
| Leadership | |
Jane Birch | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 24 councillors |
 | |
Political groups | Labour Party: 14 seats
Conservative Party: 8 seats
Liberal Democrats: 1 seats
Independent: 1 seat |
| Elections | |
Last election | 1 May 2025 |
Next election | 3 May 2029 |
| Meeting place | |
| Northampton Guildhall | |
| Website | |
| www | |
History
The council was created on 1 April 2020, but did not become fully functional until a year later. It was created to eliminate the need for charter trustees and to ensure Northampton had a representative body, following the abolition of the former Northampton Borough Council, which was merged into the larger unitary authority West Northamptonshire Council, following local government changes in Northamptonshire. Unlike the former borough council, the town council does not cover the entire Northampton urban area, as several smaller parish councils cover several of the town's suburbs. The town council covers an area with around 130,000 people, out of the roughly 225,000 people in Northampton as a whole.[3]
The historic coat of arms from the former borough council were transferred to the new town council.[3]
Responsibilities
The council initially took responsibility for cemeteries, allotments and the mayoralty, and also the running of civic events like festivals, Remembrance Sunday and Armed Forces Day.[4] In 2021 it launched two schemes for distributing grants to local community groups and charities, from an annual budget of £125,000.[5] In 2022 it launched an additional grant scheme with a budget of £50,000, for environmental projects to help address climate change.[6]
Political control
At the first elections to the council on 7 May 2021, the Labour Party took control, winning 17 seats. The Conservative Party won seven, and the Liberal Democrats won one seat.[7]