North Warwickshire

North Warwickshire is a local government district with borough status in Warwickshire, England. The borough includes the two towns of Atherstone (where the council is based) and Coleshill, and the large villages of Hartshill, Kingsbury, Mancetter, Polesworth and Water Orton along with smaller villages and surrounding rural areas.

Borough of North Warwickshire
Borough and non-metropolitan district
Atherstone, the administrative centre of the borough and one of the two towns
Shown within Warwickshire
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	West Midlands
Administrative county	Warwickshire
Founded	1 April 1974
Admin. HQ	Atherstone
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district
• MPs:	Rachel Taylor Jodie Gosling
Area
• Total	110 sq mi (284 km2)
• Rank	123rd
Population  (2022)
• Total	65,946
• Rank	Ranked 288th
• Density	600/sq mi (230/km2)
Ethnicity (2021) [1]
• Ethnic groups	List 96.1% White 1.7% Mixed 1.3% Asian 0.6% Black 0.3% other
Religion (2021) [1]
• Religion	List 55% Christianity 38.1% no religion 0.4% Islam 0.3% Hinduism 0.1% Judaism 0.5% Sikhism 0.2% Buddhism 0.4% other 5% not stated
Time zone	UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
Postcode	B46 ,B79 ,B78, CV7, CV9, CV10
ONS code	44UB (ONS) E07000218 (GSS)

The area historically had a large coal mining industry, but the last coal mine in the area, Daw Mill at Arley, closed in 2013.^[2] The borough's landscape is primarily of the mildly undulating agricultural variety, with the North Warwickshire plateau rising to 177 m (581 ft) above sea-level at Bentley Common, 2.5 miles southwest of Atherstone. The most significant bodies of water within North Warwickshire are Kingsbury Water Park, Shustoke Reservoir, the River Blythe and the mid-section of the Coventry Canal.

The neighbouring districts are Nuneaton and Bedworth, Coventry, Solihull, Birmingham, Lichfield, Tamworth, North West Leicestershire and Hinckley and Bosworth.

History

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of one previous district with part of another, these were:^[3]

• Atherstone Rural District
• Meriden Rural District (remainder split between Solihull and Coventry in the new West Midlands county)

The new district was named North Warwickshire, reflecting its position in the wider county.^[4] The district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.^[5]

Governance

North Warwickshire Borough Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
Leadership
Mayor	Debbie Bates, Conservative since 14 May 2025[6]
Leader	David Wright, Conservative since March 2020
Chief Executive	Steve Maxey since March 2019[7]
Structure
Seats	35 councillors
Political groups	Administration (17)   Conservative (17) Other parties (18)   Labour (11)   Reform UK (2)   Independent (5)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Council House, South Street, Atherstone, CV9 1DE
Website
www.northwarks.gov.uk

Coleshill, the other town of the borough

North Warwickshire Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Warwickshire County Council.^[8] The whole borough is also covered by civil parish, which form a third tier of local government.^[9]

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since the 2023 election, being led by a Conservative minority administration with informal support from two of the three independent councillors.^[10]

The first elections to the council were 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:^[11]

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1974–1976
	No overall control	1976–1979
	Labour	1979–2003
	No overall control	2003–2007
	Conservative	2007–2011
	Labour	2011–2015
	Conservative	2015–2023
	No overall control	2023–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in North Warwickshire. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2009 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Colin Hayfield[12][13]		Conservative	pre-2009	2011
Mick Stanley[14][15]		Labour	18 May 2011	2015
David Humphreys[16][17]		Conservative	20 May 2015	Mar 2020
David Wright[18]		Conservative	Mar 2020

Composition

Following the 2023 election,^[19] and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was:^[20]

Party		Councillors
	Conservative	17
	Labour	11
	Reform UK	2
	Independent	5
Total		35

Two of the independent councillors form the "Dordon Independents" group, which supported the Conservatives in forming a minority administration in May 2023,^[10] and the other three independents form the "North Warwickshire Independent Representatives" group.^[21] The next elections are due in May 2027,^[20] however North Warwickshire is in an area which may be affected by proposed local government reorganisation, which may delay elections or replace the council in its entirety.^[22]

Elections

See also: North Warwickshire Borough Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2003 the council has comprised 35 councillors representing 17 wards with each ward electing two councillors except the Arley and Whitacre ward, which elects three. Elections are held every four years.^[23]

Premises

The council is based at the Council House on South Street in Atherstone.^[24] The building was purpose-built for the council and opened in 1979.^[25]

Towns and parishes

See also: List of civil parishes in Warwickshire

The whole district is covered by 33 civil parishes. The parish councils for Atherstone and Coleshill have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council". Some of the parishes share a grouped parish council. The parishes are:^[26]

• Ansley
• Arley
• Astley
• Atherstone
• Austrey
• Baddesley Ensor
• Baxterley
• Bentley^[a]
• Caldecote
• Coleshill
• Corley
• Curdworth
• Dordon
• Fillongley
• Great Packington^[b]
• Grendon
• Hartshill
• Kingsbury
• Lea Marston
• Little Packington^[c]
• Mancetter
• Maxstoke
• Merevale^[d]
• Middleton
• Nether Whitacre
• Newton Regis^[e]
• Over Whitacre
• Polesworth
• Seckington^[f]
• Shustoke
• Shuttington
• Water Orton
• Wishaw

Media

Television

North Warwickshire is served by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central with television signals received from the Sutton Coldfield TV transmitter.^[27]

Radio

Radio stations for the area are:

• BBC CWR
• BBC Radio WM
• Capital Midlands
• Heart West Midlands
• Smooth West Midlands
• Hits Radio Coventry & Warwickshire
• Greatest Hits Radio Midlands

Coat of arms

The council was granted a coat of arms in 1976.^[28]

See also

• List of wards in North Warwickshire