Dacorum

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Dacorum is a local government district with borough status in Hertfordshire, England. The council is based in Hemel Hempstead. The borough also includes the towns of Berkhamsted and Tring and surrounding villages. The borough had a population of 155,081 in 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Dacorum was created in 1974 and is named after the medieval "hundred" (a type of county division) of Dacorum, which had covered a similar area. The borough of Dacorum is the westernmost of Hertfordshire's ten districts. It borders St Albans, Three Rivers, Buckinghamshire and Central Bedfordshire.

History

Dacorum was one of the hundreds of Hertfordshire. In the Domesday Book of 1086 the area was recorded as two separate hundreds: Danais (meaning "of the Danes") and Tring. The name Danais relates to a period in Saxon times when the area formed part of the Danelaw, which covered much of what is now eastern England, although the duration and extent of Danish presence in Hertfordshire remain uncertain and continue to be debated by historians.<ref name= TW>Template:Cite book</ref>

By about 1200 the two hundreds had merged into a single hundred, which from 1196 onward was increasingly recorded in Latin as Dacorum ("of the Dacians"<ref>Template:Cite dictionary</ref>). After the mid-13th century, Dacorum completely replaced the older names.<ref name= TW/> The substitution of Danais with Dacorum reflects a broader medieval usage in which the Latin name Dacia, originally denoting an ancient territory of south-east Europe centred on modern Romania, came to be applied to Denmark and later to Scandinavia as a whole. This geographical confusion was influenced by Jordanes' account that the Goths, who had settled in Dacia in south-east Europe during the Migration Period, had originally come from Scandinavia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

From the seventeenth century onwards, hundreds gradually declined in importance as administrative divisions, with their functions passing to other bodies such as the county courts. The final administrative functions of hundreds were extinguished in 1886.<ref>Riot (Damages) Act 1886 (49 & 50 Vict. c. 38), s.2</ref>

The modern local government district of Dacorum was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole area of five former districts and parts of another two, which were all abolished at the same time:<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>

The new district was named Dacorum after the medieval hundred, which had covered a similar area.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>

The district was granted borough status in 1984, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. Hemel Hempstead had maintained Charter Trustees from 1974 to 1984. The amalgamation of the former local authorities was symbolised in the seven oak leaves which surround a Tudor rose on the Dacorum coat of arms, issued in 1992.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Governance

Template:Infobox legislature Hertfordshire has a two-tier structure of local government, with the ten district councils (including Dacorum Borough Council) providing district-level services, and Hertfordshire County Council providing county-level services. Most of Dacorum is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government in their areas.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Political control

The Liberal Democrats won a majority of the seats on the council at the 2023 election. Following changes of allegiance, the party lost its majority in September 2024. Since then, the party has formed a minority administration.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Prior to 2023 the Conservatives had held a majority of the seats since 2003.

The first election to the council 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:<ref name=electionscentre>Template:Cite web (Put "Dacorum" in search box to see specific results.)</ref><ref name=hold>Template:Cite news</ref>

Party in control Years
Template:Party name with colour 1974–1976
Template:Party name with colour 1976–1995
Template:Party name with colour 1995–1999
Template:Party name with colour 1999–2003
Template:Party name with colour 2003–2023
Template:Party name with colour 2023–2024
Template:Party name with colour 2024–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Dacorum. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1995 have been:

Councillor Party From To
Julia Coleman<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Party name with colour 1995 1999
Andrew Williams<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Party name with colour 1999 May 2023
Ron Tindall<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=15May2024/> Template:Party name with colour 17 May 2023 15 May 2024
Adrian England<ref name=15May2024>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Party name with colour 15 May 2024 Feb 2025
Sally Symington<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Party name with colour 2 Apr 2025

Composition

Following the 2023 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to November 2024, the composition of the council was:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Thorncliffe>Template:Cite web</ref>

Party Councillors
Template:Party name with colour 18
Template:Party name with colour 18
Template:Party name with colour 5
Template:Party name with colour 10
Total 51

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

Premises

The council is based at The Forum on Marlowes in Hemel Hempstead. From the council's creation in 1974 until 2017, the council was based at Dacorum Civic Centre, also on Marlowes in Hemel Hempstead. That building had previously been called Hemel Hempstead Town Hall, having been built for Hemel Hempstead Borough Council in 1966 to replace the Old Town Hall on High Street. On 16 January 2017 the council opened its new headquarters at The Forum, on the corner of Marlowes and Combe Street, immediately south of the Civic Centre, which was demolished shortly afterwards.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Civic Centre, Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead: Council's headquarters 1974–2017, since demolished

Elections

Template:Also Since the last boundary changes in 2007 the council has comprised 51 councillors, representing 25 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. The whole council is elected together every four years.<ref name=2007order>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>

Wards

The borough's wards are:<ref name=2007order/> Template:Div col

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Parishes

Hemel Hempstead is an unparished area. The rest of the borough is divided into 16 civil parishes, with Berkhamsted and Tring parish councils taking the style "town council". The civil parishes are:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Div col

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Arms

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Media

In terms of television, Dacorum is served by BBC London and ITV London with television signals received from the Crystal Palace transmitter <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Hemel Hempstead relay transmitter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, Tring receives regional overlaps of both Sandy Heath (BBC East/ITV Anglia) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Oxford (BBC South/ITV Meridian) transmitters. <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Radio stations for the area are:

Local newspapers are Hemel Hempstead Gazette and St Albans Observer.

Town twinning

Two of the civil parishes in the borough also maintain their own separate twinning arrangements:

See also

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References

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Sources

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