Editing Borough (section)

===United Kingdom===

====England and Wales====
{{main|History of local government in England|Borough status in the United Kingdom}}

=====Ancient and municipal boroughs=====
{{Main|Ancient borough|Municipal borough}}
During the medieval period many towns were granted self-governance by the Crown, at which point they became referred to as boroughs. The formal status of borough came to be conferred by [[Royal Charter]]. These boroughs were generally governed by a self-selecting corporation (i.e., when a member died or resigned his replacement would be by [[co-option]]). Sometimes boroughs were governed by [[bailiffs]].

Debates on the Reform Bill (eventually the [[Reform Act 1832]]) lamented the diversity of polity of such town corporations, and a [[Royal Commission]] was set up to investigate this. This resulted in a regularisation of municipal government by the [[Municipal Corporations Act 1835]]. 178 of the ancient boroughs were re-formed as ''municipal boroughs'', with all municipal corporations to be elected according to a standard franchise based on property ownership. The unreformed boroughs lapsed in borough status, or were reformed (or abolished) later. Several new municipal boroughs were formed in the new industrial cities after the bill enacted, per its provisions.

As part of a large-scale reform of local government in England and Wales [[Local Government Act 1972|in 1974]], municipal boroughs were finally abolished (having become increasingly irrelevant). However, the civic traditions of many were continued by the grant of a [[Royal Charter|charter]] to their successor district councils. As to smallest boroughs, a [[Parish councils in England|town council]] was formed for an alike zone, while [[charter trustees]] were formed for a few others. A successor body is allowed to use the regalia of the old corporation, and appoint ceremonial office holders such as sword and mace bearers as provided in their original charters. The council, or trustees, may apply for an [[Order in Council]] or [[Contract law in England|Royal Licence]] to use the [[coat of arms]].

=====Parliamentary boroughs=====
{{Further|List of counties and boroughs of the unreformed House of Commons in 1800|Reform Act 1832}}


[[Simon de Montfort's Parliament|From 1265]], two burgesses from each borough were summoned to the [[Parliament of England]], alongside two [[knight]]s from each [[county]]. Thus parliamentary constituencies were derived from the ancient boroughs. Representation in the [[United Kingdom House of Commons|House of Commons]] was decided by the House itself, which resulted in boroughs being established in some small settlements for the purposes of parliamentary representation, despite their possessing no actual corporation.

After the 1832 Reform Act, which disenfranchised many of the [[rotten borough]]s (boroughs that had declined in importance, had only a small population, and had only a handful of eligible voters), parliamentary constituencies began to diverge from the ancient boroughs. While many ancient boroughs remained as municipal boroughs, they were disenfranchised by the Reform Act.

=====County boroughs=====
{{Main|County borough}}

The [[Local Government Act 1888]] established a new sort of borough – the county borough. These were designed to be 'counties-to-themselves'; administrative divisions to sit alongside the new administrative counties. They allowed urban areas to be administered separately from the more rural areas. They, therefore, often contained pre-existing municipal boroughs, which thereafter became part of the second tier of local government, below the administrative counties and county boroughs.

The county boroughs were, like the municipal boroughs, abolished in 1974, being reabsorbed into their parent counties for administrative purposes.

=====Metropolitan boroughs=====
{{Main|Metropolitan borough}}

In 1899, as part of a reform of local government in the [[County of London]], the various parishes in London were reorganised as new entities, the 'metropolitan boroughs'. These were reorganised further when [[Greater London]] was formed out of Middlesex, parts of Surrey, Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire and the County of London in 1965.  These council areas are now referred to as "London boroughs" rather than "metropolitan boroughs".

When the new metropolitan counties ([[Greater Manchester]], [[Merseyside]], [[South Yorkshire]], [[Tyne and Wear]], [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]], and [[West Yorkshire]]) were created in 1974, their sub-divisions also became metropolitan boroughs in many, but not all, cases; in many cases these metropolitan boroughs recapitulated abolished county boroughs (for example, [[Metropolitan Borough of Stockport|Stockport]]). The metropolitan boroughs possessed slightly more autonomy from the metropolitan county councils than the shire county districts did from their county councils.

With the abolition of the metropolitan county councils in 1986, these metropolitan boroughs became independent, and continue to be so at present.

=====Other current uses=====
Elsewhere in England a number of [[districts of England|districts]] and [[unitary authority]] areas are called "borough". Until 1974, this was a status that denoted towns with a certain type of local government (a [[municipal corporation]], or a self-governing body). Since 1974, it has been a purely ceremonial style granted by royal charter to districts which may consist of a single town or may include a number of towns or rural areas. Borough status entitles the council chairman to bear the title of [[Mayors in England|mayor]]. Districts may apply to the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British Crown]] for the grant of borough status upon advice of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom]].

====Northern Ireland====
In [[Northern Ireland]], local government was reorganised in 1973. Under the legislation that created the 26 [[districts of Northern Ireland]], a district council whose area included an existing [[municipal borough]] could resolve to adopt the charter of the old municipality and thus continue to enjoy borough status. Districts that do not contain a former borough can apply for a charter in a similar manner to English districts.

====Scotland====
{{hatnote|See: [[Burgh]]}}