City of Canterbury

Template:Infobox settlement Canterbury (Template:IPAc-en),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> also known as the City of Canterbury, is a local government district with city status in Kent, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Canterbury, where the council is based. The district also includes the towns of Fordwich, Herne Bay and Whitstable, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Parts of the district lie within the designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty of the Kent Downs.

The neighbouring districts (clockwise from east) are Thanet, Dover, Folkestone and Hythe, Ashford and Swale, all of which are also in Kent. To the north the district has a coast onto the North Sea.

History

Canterbury itself was an ancient borough, which had held city status from time immemorial. The earliest known charter was issued by Henry II (reigned 1154–1189). A subsequent charter in 1448 gave the city the right to appoint a mayor. Another in 1461 gave the city the right to appoint its own sheriff, making it a county corporate, independent from the jurisdiction of the Sheriff of Kent.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> When elected county councils were established in 1889, Canterbury's independence was maintained by making it a county borough, independent from the new Kent County Council.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref> Although administratively independent, Canterbury was still deemed part of Kent for the purposes of lieutenancy.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The modern district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of four former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>

• Bridge-Blean Rural District
• Canterbury County Borough
• Herne Bay Urban District
• Whitstable Urban District

The Bridge-Blean Rural District entirely surrounded the old city; the urban districts occupied the coastal area to the north.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The new district was named Canterbury after its largest settlement.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref> The district is a non-metropolitan district, with Kent County Council providing county-level services to the area. The district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Canterbury's series of mayors dating back to 1448.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Canterbury's city status was extended to cover the whole of the new borough.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>

In 1988 the position of mayor was given the honorific title of lord mayor.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> The council continues to appoint a ceremonial sheriff; the sheriff no longer has any judicial functions, but the title is today taken by the deputy chair of the council.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Governance

Canterbury City Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Kent County Council.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref> The more rural parts of the district are covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.<ref name=electionmaps>Template:Cite web</ref>

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since April 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Following the May 2023 elections a Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition was formed to run the council, led by Labour councillor Alan Baldock.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:<ref name=electionscentre>Template:Cite web (Put "Canterbury" in search box to see specific results.)</ref>

Party in control		Years
Template:Party name with colour	1974–1991
Template:Party name with colour	1991–2005
Template:Party name with colour	2005–2023
Template:Party name with colour	2023–present

Leadership

The role of lord mayor in Canterbury is largely ceremonial. Since 2002 the council has formally appointed a leader of the council to provide political leadership; the chair of the policy committee was sometimes called the leader prior to 2002. The leaders since 2002 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Alex Perkins<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=11May2005/>	Template:Party name with colour	8 May 2002	11 May 2005
Harry Cragg<ref name=11May2005>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Party name with colour	11 May 2005	May 2007
John Gilbey<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Party name with colour	16 May 2007	May 2015
Simon Cook<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Party name with colour	20 May 2015	May 2019
Rob Thomas<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Template:Party name with colour	22 May 2019	Sep 2020
Ben Fitter-Harding<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Party name with colour	10 Sep 2020	May 2023
Alan Baldock<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Template:Party name with colour	17 May 2023

Compositions

Following the 2023 election,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was:<ref name=Thorncliffe>Template:Cite web</ref>

Party		Councillors
Template:Party name with colour	18
Template:Party name with colour	8
Template:Party name with colour	8
Template:Party name with colour	4
Template:Party name with colour	1
Total		39

The Green Party gained an extra seat following the by-election on 13 November 2025 caused by the resignation of Liberal Democrat Roben Franklin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The next election is due in 2027.<ref name=Thorncliffe/>

Elections

Template:Also Since the last full review of boundaries in 2015 the council has comprised 39 councillors representing 21 wards with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>

Premises

Council meetings are held at Canterbury Guildhall at the corner of St Peter's Place and St Peter's Street, adjoining the Westgate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The building was formerly the Church of the Holy Cross. It had been commissioned by Archbishop Simon Sudbury and was completed before his death in 1381.<ref name="BaxWestgateTowerHistory">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:NHLE</ref> After the church was declared redundant and deconsecrated in 1972, it was acquired by the city council and converted for municipal use: it was officially re-opened by Prince Charles as the council's meeting place on 9 November 1978.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The council's main offices are the Council Offices on Military Road, Canterbury, which was built in the 1980s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During 2024 the council plans to vacate Military Road and move its offices to converted parts of the Whitefriars Shopping Centre.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Geography

Within the district are the towns of Herne Bay and Whitstable, which, with the rural parishes and the cathedral city itself, make up the district of the City of Canterbury. There are 27 parishes within the district, as follows:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Columns-list Swalecliffe is an unparished area within the district.

The district is largely rural, with a coastal strip taken up by the almost unbroken spread of seaside towns and beaches from Seasalter, west of Whitstable, to Herne Bay. Between them and the city the hills rise into the wooded area of Blean, south of which the Great Stour flows from its source beyond Ashford.

Demography

Ethnic Group	1991<ref name=":412">Data is taken from United Kingdom Casweb Data services of the United Kingdom 1991 Census on Ethnic Data for England, Scotland and Wales Template:Webarchive (Table 6)</ref>		2001<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>		2011<ref name=":36">Template:Cite web</ref>
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
White: Total	121,942	98.4%	130,700	96.6%	140,620	93%
White: British	–	–	125,289	92.6%	132,269	87.5%
White: Irish	–	–	1,338		1,260
White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller	–	–	–	–	374
White: Other	–	–	4,073	3%	6,717	4.4%
Asian or Asian British: Total	1,086	0.9%	1,964	1.5%	5,135	3.4%
Asian or Asian British: Indian	349		600		1,448
Asian or Asian British: Pakistani	34		77		306
Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi	110		117		251
Asian or Asian British: Chinese	279		650		1,436
Asian or Asian British: Other Asian	314		520		1,694
Black or Black British: Total	409	0.3%	610	0.5%	1,937	1.3%
Black or Black British: Caribbean	121		186		437
Black or Black British: African	149		384		1,338
Black or Black British: Other Black	139		40		162
Mixed or British Mixed: Total	–	–	1,362	1%	2,551	1.7%
Mixed: White and Black Caribbean	–	–	331		680
Mixed: White and Black African	–	–	134		305
Mixed: White and Asian	–	–	494		897
Mixed: Other Mixed	–	–	403		669
Other: Total	510	0.4%	642	0.5%	902	0.6%
Other: Arab	–	–	–	–	405
Other: Any other ethnic group	510	0.4%	642	0.5%	497
Total	123,947	100%	135,278	100%	151,145	100%

File:Canterbury pop pyramid.svg

Population pyramid of the City of Canterbury in 2020

Twin towns

The district participates in the Sister Cities programme, with links<ref name="Council twinning">Template:Cite web</ref> to Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, and Vladimir, Russia.

The Three Towns Association was founded in 1985 on the initiative of three local clergymen to promote person-to-person contact between ordinary people in the UK, the U.S. and Russia. The name was subsequently changed to the Three Cities Association. The Association chose Vladimir as the twin city in Russia because it is the seat of Christianity in that country as Canterbury is the seat of Christianity in England. Vladimir was already twinned with Bloomington-Normal. Among other activities, the Association arranged home-stay exchanges between the two Simon Langton Schools in Canterbury and School No. 23 in Vladimir, where the teaching was conducted in English.

Several towns and villages within the City of Canterbury have their own twinning arrangements:<ref name="Council twinning"/> see the articles on Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay.

See also

• List of mayors of Canterbury
• Template:Annotated link

External links

• Canterbury City Council