The Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire, England.

It is named after the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme, where the council is based. The borough also includes the town of Kidsgrove and several villages and surrounding rural areas lying generally to the west of Newcastle itself. Most of the borough's built-up areas form part of The Potteries Urban Area.

The neighbouring districts are Staffordshire Moorlands, Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford, Shropshire and Cheshire East.

The town of Newcastle-under-Lyme was an ancient borough, established in the 12th century. It is known to have been granted a charter (since lost) around 1173 by Henry II. The earliest surviving charter dates from 1235. The borough was formally incorporated in 1590 under a new charter from Elizabeth I.

The borough was reformed in 1836 to become a municipal borough under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which reformed many boroughs across the country. The municipal borough was enlarged several times, notably in 1932 when it took in what had been the Wolstanton United Urban District, covering the parishes of Chesterton, Silverdale and Wolstanton, and at the same time also absorbed the parish of Clayton from Newcastle-under-Lyme Rural District.

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

• Kidsgrove Urban District
• Newcastle-under-Lyme Municipal Borough
• Newcastle-under-Lyme Rural District

The new district was named Newcastle-under-Lyme after its largest town. The district was granted borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Newcastle's series of mayors dating back to 1318.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
Leadership
Mayor	Barry Panter, Conservative since 15 May 2024
Leader	Simon Tagg, Conservative since 5 December 2017
Chief Executive	Gordon Mole since 8 July 2024
Structure
Seats	44 councillors
Political groups	Administration (25)   Conservative (25) Other parties (19)   Labour (18)   Independent (1)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	7 May 2026
Meeting place
Castle House, Barracks Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme, ST5 1BL
Website
www.newcastle-staffs.gov.uk

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Staffordshire County Council. Parts of the borough are also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2021.

The first elections to the enlarged borough council were 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:

Party in control		Years
	No overall control	1974–1979
	Labour	1979–2002
	No overall control	2002–2004
	Labour	2004–2006
	No overall control	2006–2012
	Labour	2012–2017
	No overall control	2017–2021
	Conservative	2021–present

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Newcastle-under-Lyme, with political leadership provided instead by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Reg Lane		Labour	1 Apr 1974	18 May 1976
George Poole		Conservative	18 May 1976	1978
Brian Westrup		Conservative	1978	1979
Bill Welsby		Labour	1979	1984
Mike Brereton		Labour	1984	9 May 1994
Eddie Boden		Labour	18 May 1994	4 May 2003
David Leech		Labour	21 May 2003	24 May 2006
Simon Tagg		Conservative	24 May 2006	18 May 2011
Stephen Sweeney		Conservative	18 May 2011	16 May 2012
Gareth Snell		Labour	16 May 2012	25 May 2014
Mike Stubbs		Labour	4 Jun 2014	20 May 2015
Elizabeth Shenton		Labour	20 May 2015	5 Dec 2017
Simon Tagg		Conservative	5 Dec 2017

Following the 2022 election and a subsequent change of allegiance in November 2023, the composition of the council was:

Party		Councillors
	Conservative	25
	Labour	18
	Independent	1
Total		44

The next election is due in 2026.

Since the last boundary changes in 2018 the council has comprised 44 councillors representing 21 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. The wards are:

The council is based at Castle House on Barracks Road in the centre of Newcastle. The building was purpose-built for the council as a shared facility with Staffordshire County Council and the police, and opened in 2018. Prior to that the council was based at the Civic Offices on Merrial Street which had been completed in 1967 for the old borough council.

Comparative census information
2001 UK Census	Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme	England
Total population	122,030	49,138,831
White	98%	91%
Asian	0.6%	4.6%
Black	0.2%	2.3%
Christian	78.5%	72%
Muslim	0.5%	3.1%
Hindu	0.2%	1.1%
No religion	13.1%	15%
Unemployed	2%	3.3%

In the 2001 census, the borough was recorded as having a population of 122,030 with 51.5% being female. In terms of religious affiliation, 78.5% identified themselves as Christian, 13.1% having no religion, 0.5% Muslim, 0.2% Hindu or other and 0.1% stating Jewish or Sikh. In terms of economic occupation, 61.2% were classed as economically active, with 22.6% working in manufacturing, 18.5% in wholesale or retail, 11.6% in health/social work, and 11.6% in financial and other business related activities.

Newcastle-under-Lyme was chosen for the campus of University College of North Staffordshire, established in 1949 at Keele Hall in the village of Keele, two miles from the town centre, and which was granted full university status as Keele University in 1962. Keele University Medical School is based in the grounds of the University Hospital of North Staffordshire at Hartshill in Stoke-on-Trent, about a mile from the centre of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

In terms of television, the area is served by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central broadcasting from Birmingham. Television signals are received the Sutton Coldfield TV transmitter and the Fenton relay transmitter. However, Kidsgrove is served by BBC North West and ITV Granada, broadcast from Salford. Television signals in the town are received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter.

Radio stations for the area are BBC Radio Stoke, Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire, Greatest Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire, 6 Towns Radio and HitMix Radio, a community based station that broadcast from Newcastle-under-Lyme.

The Sentinel is the local newspaper that covers the area.

An area roughly corresponding to the pre-1974 municipal borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme (less the parish of Silverdale, created in 2002) is an unparished area; over half the borough's population live in this area. The rest of the borough is divided into eleven civil parishes. The parish council for Kidsgrove has declared that parish to be a town, allowing it to take the style "town council".

The parishes are:

The following people, military units and organisations and groups have received the Freedom of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (July 2020)

• Gordon Banks: 23 February 2018.

• Fred Van Buren and Connie Greta Van Buren 29 April 2019.

• Jim Worgan 2021.

• The Staffordshire Regiment: 1973.

• The Royal Stoke University Hospital: 22 May 2021.

Coat of arms of Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme

Notes Granted 1 December 1951 by the College of Arms. Crest A semi lion queue fourchee Argent charged on the shoulder with a Stafford knot Gules and supporting a staff Proper flying therefrom a banner Azure charged with three garbs Or. Escutcheon Or on a base barry wavy of four Argent and Azure charged with three fishes naiant Proper a castle of three towers Gules on a chief also Azure a lion passant guardant between two fleurs-de-lys of the first. Supporters On either side a lion guardant Sable supporting a scythe Proper. Motto Prisca Constantia

Coat of arms of Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme

Notes Granted 4 March 1975 by the College of Arms. Crest Issuant from a mount an oak tree fructed supported by two kids all Proper the trunk enfilinf a Stafford knot Or. Escutcheon Azure issuant from a base barry wavy of four Argent and Azure charged with three fishes naiant two and one a mount Proper thereon a castle of three towers between in chief two Stafford knots Or. Supporters On either sie a lion guardant Sable each supporting over the further shoulder a scythe pendent from the neck by a steel chain an open book Proper edged and bound Or. Motto Constantia Scientia Prudentia Badge A Stafford knot ensigned by a castle of three towers Or.

• Newcastle-under-Lyme borough council
• Newcastle-under-Lyme local life
• The Potteries
• Historic chartered accountants based on Chesterton
• Keele University
• Local Information from The Sentinel newspaper
• Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service

53°00′40″N 2°13′44″W / 53.011°N 2.229°W / 53.011; -2.229