The Borough of Rugby is a local government district with borough status in Warwickshire, England. The borough comprises the town of Rugby where the council has its headquarters, and the rural areas surrounding the town. At the 2021 census the borough had a population of 114,400, of which 78,125 lived in the built-up area of Rugby itself and the remainder were in the surrounding areas.
Between 2011 and 2021, the population of Rugby borough saw a 14.3% increase in population from around 100,100 in to 114,400, meaning it has had the largest percentage increase of any local authority area in the West Midlands region since 2011.[2]
The present borough was created on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972. It was created by a merger of the municipal borough of Rugby (which covered the town of Rugby) and the Rugby Rural District.[7] The new district was named Rugby after its largest settlement.[8] The district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Rugby's series of mayors dating back to 1932.[9]
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Rugby. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2002 have been:[16]
Since the last full review of boundaries in 2012 the council has comprised 42 councillors representing sixteen wards, with each ward electing either one or three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council being elected each time for a four-year term of office. Warwickshire County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections.[20][21][22]
Premises
The council is based at Rugby Town Hall on Evreux Way in the town centre, which was purpose-built for the old borough council and opened in 1961.[23]
Here is a list of parishes in the borough, some of which contain several settlements. Where a parish contains more than one settlement these are listed in brackets:
The Rugby School Museum, which has audio-visual displays about the history of Rugby School and of the town.
Rugby Art Gallery and Museum. The art gallery contains a nationally recognised collection of contemporary art. The museum contains, amongst other things, Roman artefacts dug up from the nearby Roman settlement of Tripontium.
