# Hinckley and Bosworth

Hinckley and Bosworth is a local government district with borough status in Leicestershire, England. The council is based in Hinckley, the largest town. The borough also includes the town of Earl Shilton and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. The Bosworth in the borough's name refers to the small market town of Market Bosworth, near which the Battle of Bosworth Field was fought in 1485.
The neighbouring districts are North West Leicestershire, Charnwood, Blaby, Rugby, Nuneaton and Bedworth and North Warwickshire.

## History

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of two former districts, which were both abolished at the same time:
* Hinckley Urban District
* Market Bosworth Rural District (except parish of Ibstock, which went to North West Leicestershire)
The government initially named the new district "Bosworth". The shadow council elected to oversee the transition to the new system requested a change to "Hinckley and Bosworth", which was agreed by the government on 20 November 1973, before the new district formally came into being. The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.

## Governance

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Leicestershire County Council. Much of the borough is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

### Political control

The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since 2019.
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Since 1974 political control of the council has been as follows:
| Party in control | Years |
| No overall control | 1974–1976 |
| Conservative | 1976–1995 |
| No overall control | 1995–2003 |
| Conservative | 2003–2007 |
| Liberal Democrats | 2007–2015 |
| Conservative | 2015–2019 |
| Liberal Democrats | 2019–present |

### Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Hinckley and Bosworth. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2003 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To |
| Carole Claridge | Conservative | 2003 | Feb 2006 |
| Mike Bevins | Conservative | 27 Feb 2006 | 6 May 2007 |
| David Bill | Liberal Democrats | 15 May 2007 | Dec 2009 |
| Stuart Bray | Liberal Democrats | 15 Dec 2009 | 19 May 2015 |
| Mike Hall | Conservative | 19 May 2015 | 5 May 2019 |
| Stuart Bray | Liberal Democrats | 21 May 2019 | |

### Composition

Following the 2023 election and subsequent changes of allegiance in May 2024, the composition of the council was:
| Party | Party | Councillors |
| | Liberal Democrats | 23 |
| | Conservative | 9 |
| | Labour | 1 |
| | Independent | 1 |
| Total | Total | 34 |
The next election is due in 2027.

### Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2003 the council has comprised 34 councillors, representing 16 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.
The district is broadly coterminous to the Bosworth parliamentary constituency, which is represented by Luke Evans (Conservative). The Groby ward is the only part of the district not in the Bosworth constituency, forming instead part of the Charnwood constituency.

### Premises

The council is based at the Hinckley Hub on Rugby Road in Hinckley. The building was completed in 2013. Prior to 2013 the council was based at the Council Offices at Argents Mead, which had been built in 1968 for the old Hinckley Urban District Council.

## Geography

There are a number of geographical features which shape the landscape of Hinckley & Bosworth.
Two large neighbouring urban areas lie to the south of the borough: Hinckley and Burbage and Barwell and Earl Shilton. A narrow green wedge separates the two conurbations, which is increasingly being occupied by leisure facilities such as the Marston's Stadium and a new leisure centre. To the east of the wedge lies Burbage Common and Woods, a large popular green recreational area.
The west of the borough is largely flat in nature, dominated by the River Sence flood plain. This area of the borough is largely rural, consisting of a number of very small villages and hamlets.
At the northern and eastern edges of the borough lie several settlements (including Bagworth, Desford, Groby, Markfield, Ratby and Thornton) which largely relate to Leicester; in particular the most northern villages have little to do with the main administrative centre of Hinckley. The northern area of the borough also forms part of Charnwood Forest.

### Places of interest

* The Geographical Centre of England is in the northwest of the borough at Lindley Hall Farm, near Fenny Drayton
* Burbage Common and Woods is one of the largest recreation areas in the borough consisting of 80 hectares of fields, meadows and woodland
* Hinckley Museum is in a range of 17th century timber-framed framework knitters' cottages.
* The Ashby Canal, the longest contour canal in England, passes through the borough from Hinckley in the south of the borough through Stoke Golding, Dadlington, Market Bosworth and Shackerstone before heading north to its current terminus at Snarestone.
* There is a large mill in Sheepy Magna to the west of the borough located on the River Sence
* Stoke Golding, is home to the medieval Church of St. Margaret's.
* The site of the Battle of Bosworth, administered by Leicestershire County Council, includes an interpretation centre at Ambion Hill, where Richard III encamped the night before the battle. St. James's Church at Dadlington is the place where many of the dead were buried and where a chantry was founded on their behalf.
* The Battlefield Line is a preserved railway which runs over part of the alignment of the former railway from Nuneaton to Ashby-de-la-Zouch. It is home to the Shackerstone Diesel Group.
* Twycross Zoo is notable for having the largest collection of primates in the world.
* Thornton Reservoir is a former 75-acre (300,000 m$^2$) drinking water reservoir that is no longer in use.
* A large collection of tropical birds is on display at Tropical Birdland near to Desford.

### Railways

The only railway station in the borough on the National Rail network is Hinckley railway station on the South Leicestershire Line opened by the LNWR between 1862 and 1864. Currently there are direct services to Birmingham New Street and Leicester only with additional services to/from Cambridge and Stansted Airport in the peak.
There was also a branch line serving the market town of Market Bosworth which connected both Nuneaton and Hinckley to both Coalville and Ashby. The line closed to regular traffic in 1970 and is now part of the Battlefield Line. There was also a small stub to Hinckley but was never opened or used. There was also a stub to Nuneaton via Stoke Golding.
The last line that runs through part the borough is the Leicester to Burton Line which had a station in Desford, the station closed in 1964 but the line remains open for traffic. The station also served as a junction for the branch line to Leicester West Bridge on the now defunct Swannington and Leicester Railway. Although the section from Desford to Swannington remains open for freight traffic.

### Demography

Hinckley and Bosworth is the second largest borough by population in Leicestershire and has seen significant population growth over recent decades; a trend forecast to continue at least into the short-medium term.
Population growth in Hinckley and Bosworth :
| Year | 1951 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 | 2031 |
| Population | 59,720 | 64,242 | 74,744 | 86,622 | 96,203 | 100,142 | 105,078 | 110,100 | 114,000 | 121,000 |
| Census | Census | Census | Census | Census | Census | Census | Census | ONS | ONS Projections | ONS Projections |

## Parishes

Most of the borough is covered by civil parishes. The pre-1974 Hinckley Urban District became an unparished area on the borough's creation in 1974, but four new parishes have since been created from parts of that area: Burbage, Stoke Golding (both created 1986), Earl Shilton (1995) and Barwell (2007), leaving just the central part of Hinckley itself as unparished. The parish council for Earl Shilton has declared its parish to be a town, allowing it to take the style "town council". (Whilst often referred to as a town, Market Bosworth Parish Council has not formally declared that parish to be a town.)
* Bagworth and Thornton, Barlestone, Barwell, Burbage
* Cadeby, Carlton
* Desford
* Earl Shilton
* Groby
* Higham on the Hill
* Market Bosworth, Markfield
* Nailstone, Newbold Verdon
* Osbaston
* Peckleton (including the villages of Kirkby Mallory and Stapleton)
* Ratby
* Shackerstone, Sheepy, Stanton-under-Bardon, Stoke Golding, Sutton Cheney
* Twycross
* Witherley

## Coat of arms

Coat of arms of Hinckley and Bosworth :
* NotesGranted 15 November 1974
* CrestOn a wreath of the colours a dragon Gules preying on a boar passant Argent.
* EscutcheonPer pale indented Argent and Gules on a chief Or three torteaux that in the centre charged with a pierced cinquefoil Ermine the others each charged with a mascle Or.
* SupportersOn either side a ram reguardant Sable armed Or.
* MottoPost Proelia Concordia (After The Battle Concord)