The City of Lancaster, or simply Lancaster (/ˈlæŋkæstər/), is a local government district with city status in Lancashire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Lancaster, and also includes the towns of Carnforth, Heysham and Morecambe and a wider rural hinterland. The district has a population of 144,446 (2022), and an area of 219 square miles (567 km).

Much of the district's rural area is recognised for its natural beauty; it includes part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and parts of the designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty of Arnside and Silverdale and the Forest of Bowland. The neighbouring districts are Westmorland and Furness, North Yorkshire, Ribble Valley and Wyre.

The town of Lancaster was an ancient borough, with its earliest known charter dating from 1193. A later charter in 1337 gave it the right to appoint a mayor. It was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836, governed by a body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Lancaster", but generally known as the corporation or town council. In 1937 the borough was awarded city status.

The modern district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the territory of five former districts which were abolished at the same time:

• Carnforth Urban District
• Lancaster Municipal Borough
• Lancaster Rural District
• Lunesdale Rural District
• Morecambe and Heysham Municipal Borough

The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Lancaster's series of mayors dating back to 1337. The city status which had been held by the old municipal borough of Lancaster since 1937 was also transferred to the new district on its creation.

Since 1 August 2016 the district has included a small part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Lancaster City Council
Leadership
Mayor	Abi Mills, Green since 10 May 2024
Leader	Phil Black, Labour since 22 May 2023
Chief Executive	Mark Davies since 2022
Structure
Seats	61 councillors
Political groups	Administration (51)   Green (23)   Labour (21)   Liberal Democrat (7) Other parties (10)   Conservative (5)   MB Independents (3)   Independent (2)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Town Hall, Marine Road East, Morecambe, LA4 5AF
Website
www.lancaster.gov.uk

Lancaster City Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Lancashire County Council. Much of the district is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

In the part of the district within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, town planning is the responsibility of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. The city council appoints one of its councillors to serve on the 25-person National Park Authority.

The council has been under no overall control since 2019. Since the 2023 election a coalition of Labour, the Greens and Liberal Democrats has formed the council's administration.

The first election to the city council as enlarged by the Local Government Act 1972 was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Party		Period
	Conservative	1974–1987
	No overall control	1987–1995
	Labour	1995–1999
	No overall control	1999–2017
	Labour	2017–2019
	No overall control	2019–present

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Lancaster, with political leadership instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1993 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Stanley Henig		Labour	pre-1993	9 May 1999
Tricia Heath		Morecambe Bay Independents	19 May 1999	6 May 2003
Ian Barker		Labour	May 2003	6 May 2007
Roger Mace		Conservative	21 May 2007	4 Feb 2009
Abbott Bryning		Labour	4 Feb 2009	18 May 2009
Stuart Langhorn		Liberal Democrats	18 May 2009	8 May 2011
Eileen Blamire		Labour	23 May 2011	5 May 2019
Erica Lewis		Labour	20 May 2019	17 May 2021
Caroline Jackson		Green	17 May 2021	22 May 2023
Phil Black		Labour	22 May 2023

Following the 2023 election and subsequent by-elections up to October 4th 2024, the composition of the council was:

Party		Councillors
	Green	23
	Labour	22
	Liberal Democrats	7
	Conservative	5
	Morecambe Bay Independents	3
	Independent	1
Total		61

The next election is due in 2027.

Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 61 councillors representing 27 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

The district comprises two parliamentary constituencies: Lancaster and Fleetwood, and Morecambe and Lunesdale. Since 2015, Lancaster and Fleetwood has been held by Labour, and Morecambe and Lunesdale has been held by the Conservatives since 2010.

The council has two main meeting places, both inherited from predecessor authorities: Lancaster Town Hall and Morecambe Town Hall. Full council meetings are held in the larger council chamber of Morecambe Town Hall, but Lancaster Town Hall is also used for committee meetings and houses administrative functions.

Lancaster compared
2001 UK Census	Lancaster	Lancashire	England	United Kingdom
Total population	133,914	1,134,974	49,138,831	58,789,194
White	97.8%	94.7%	90.9%	92.14%
Asian	0.7%	4.1%	4.6%	3.4%
Black	0.2%	0.2%	2.3%	2%

At the 2011 UK census, the City of Lancaster had a total population of 138,375. Of the 57,822 households in the city, 33.5% were married couples living together, 31.9% were one-person households, 7.8% were co-habiting couples and 10.0% were lone parents. These figures were similar to the national averages.

The population density was 233/km (600/sq mi) and for every 100 females, there were 91.8 males. Of those aged 16–74 in Lancaster, 26.7% had no academic qualifications, lower than 28.9% in all of England. The city of Lancaster had a higher proportion of white people than England.

The table below details the population change since 1801, including the percentage change since the last available census data. Although the City of Lancaster has existed as a district since 1974, figures have been generated by combining data from the towns, villages, and civil parishes that would later be constituent parts of the city.

Population growth in City of Lancaster since 1801

Year Population ±% 1801 23,818 —     1811 24,842 +4.3% 1821 28,374 +14.2% 1831 30,987 +9.2% 1841 32,998 +6.5% 1851 33,437 +1.3% 1861 37,943 +13.5% 1871 42,450 +11.9%	Year Population ±% 1881 46,956 +10.6% 1891 57,577 +22.6% 1901 64,617 +12.2% 1911 72,538 +12.3% 1921 77,409 +6.7% 1931 82,622 +6.7% 1941 92,752 +12.3% 1951 104,126 +12.3%	Year Population ±% 1961 113,083 +8.6% 1971 122,820 +8.6% 1981 118,599 −3.4% 1991 130,022 +9.6% 2001 133,914 +3.0% 2011 138,375 +3.3%
Source: Vision of Britain

Lancaster compared
2011 UK Census	City of Lancaster	Lancashire	England
Population	138,375	1,134,974	49,138,831
Christian	65.9%	68.8%	59.4%
Muslim	1.3%	4.8%	5.0%
No religion	24.5%	19.2%	24.7%

At the 2011 UK census, 65.9% of Lancaster's population reported themselves as Christian, 1.3% Muslim, 0.4% Buddhist, 0.3% Hindu, 0.1% Jewish, and 0.1% Sikh. 24.5% had no religion, 0.5% had an alternative religion and 7.1% did not state their religion. The city is covered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster, and the Church of England Diocese of Blackburn.

City of Lancaster compared
2001 UK Census	City of Lancaster	Lancashire	England
Population of working age	97,365	814,434	35,532,091
Full-time employment	33.5%	39.2%	40.8%
Part-time employment	12.7%	12.2%	11.8%
Self employed	7.8%	8.2%	8.3%
Unemployed	3.6%	2.9%	3.3%
Retired	14.9%	15.0%	13.5%

At the United Kingdom Census 2001, the City of Lancaster had 97,365 residents aged 16 to 74. Of these people, 4.0% were students with jobs, 9.6% students without jobs, 5.1% looking after home or family, 6.0% permanently sick or disabled and 2.8% economically inactive for other reasons.

In 2001, of the 55,906 residents of the City of Lancaster in employment, the industry of employment was 16.7% retail and wholesale, 14.2% health and social work, 11.4% education, 11.2% manufacturing, 7.8% property and business services, 6.7% construction, 6.7% hotels and restaurants, 6.5% transport and communications, 5.7% public administration and defence, 2.5% finance, 2.4% energy and water supply, 2.2% agriculture, 0.4% mining, and 5.3% other. This was roughly in line with national figures, although the proportion of jobs in agriculture which was more than the national average of 1.5% and the percentage of people working in finance was below the national average of 4.8%; the proportion of people working in property was well below the national average of 13.2%.

The area is served by BBC North West and ITV Granada.

Radio stations for the area are BBC Radio Lancashire, BBC Radio Cumbria, Heart North West, Smooth North West, and Greatest Hits Radio Lancashire. Beyond Radio is a voluntary, non-profit community radio station for Lancaster and Morecambe.