Editing Ludlow (section)

==Governance==

===Civic===
[[File:The Buttercross, Ludlow.jpg|thumb|right|The Buttercross, built in 1743–1746, at the top of Broad Street and the highest point of the medieval town (the site of the High Cross); historically this spot was used as a benchmark for road distances to Ludlow.]]
[[File:The Guildhall building, Mill Street, Ludlow. - geograph.org.uk - 1337410.jpg|thumb|[[Ludlow Guildhall]]]]
Ludlow is a [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] with a [[parish councils in England|town council]] and a mayor. Ludlow was a [[Ancient borough|borough]] from 1461 to 1974 (becoming a [[municipal borough]] in 1835 and a [[rural borough]] in 1967); the borough encompassed the same area as Ludlow's [[parish]] until the mid-late 19th century. Its borough status meant Ludlow was largely autonomous from the hundred of [[Munslow (hundred)|Munslow]] which it lay in.

Wider local government was provided by [[Ludlow Rural District]] from 1894 (this rural district absorbed the borough of Ludlow in 1967, causing the change in status to a rural borough) until 1974 when [[South Shropshire]] District Council (with Ludlow as its seat) took over along with [[Shropshire County Council]] in a two-tier arrangement. Rural boroughs were abolished in 1974 and Ludlow's [[Borough status in the United Kingdom|borough status]] at that point ended. The district councils of Shropshire were abolished in 2009 and the county now has a [[unitary authority]] called [[Shropshire Council]], based in Shrewsbury. The South Shropshire District Council's offices at Stone House on Corve Street were gradually emptied of local government staff until their sale in 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2014/06/02/council-offices-put-up-for-sale-in-ludlow/|title=Council offices put up for sale in Ludlow|date=2 June 2014|newspaper=Shropshire Star|access-date=19 July 2024}}</ref>

The town council is based at [[Ludlow Guildhall]] on Mill Street, a grade I listed building,<ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-390045-the-guildhall-and-adjoining-coachhouse-l British Listed Buildings] The Guildhall and adjoining Coachhouse</ref> which was the home of the town's [[County court|county]] and magistrates' courts until their closure in 2011.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-15113637 BBC News] Ludlow, Shrewsbury and Oswestry county courts close (30 September 2011)</ref> There was a Town Hall, situated in the Square, which was built in 1887–1888 and demolished in March 1986;<ref>Farlow, R and Trumper, D (2005) ''Ludlow and South-West Shropshire'' page 11</ref> it featured prominently just prior to its demolition in the 1985 television drama ''[[Blott on the Landscape]]''. The other notable civic building in the centre of town is the [[Ludlow Buttercross|Buttercross]] (named as it was the butter market at the site of the medieval High Cross); it was the home of the town council after the demolition of the Town Hall and prior to the closure of the courts. It is now an 'interpretation centre' for the town's architectural heritage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ludlow.gov.uk/Uploads/Site817/Files/bx/thebuttercrossupdate.pdf |title=The Buttercross update|publisher=Ludlow Town Council|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220024113/https://www.ludlow.gov.uk/Uploads/Site817/Files/bx/thebuttercrossupdate.pdf|archive-date=20 December 2014}}</ref>

===Electoral arrangements===
The boundaries of Ludlow's wards and electoral divisions were most recently reviewed in 2008.<ref>[https://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/west-midlands/shropshire/shropshire LGBCE] Shropshire review (2008)</ref>

Fifteen councillors sit on the town council, representing seven [[wards in the United Kingdom|wards]], and elections (when contested) are held every four years (at the same time as elections to Shropshire Council). The seven wards changed slightly in 2008, retaining their previous names and number of councillors they each return – they are (with the number of town councillors returned given): Rockspring (2), Hayton (2), Bringewood (2), Corve (2), Whitcliffe (2), Gallows Bank (3), and Clee View (2).

Ludlow together with nearby parishes comprise three electoral divisions, each returning one councillor to Shropshire Council in elections held every four years, the [[2021 Shropshire Council election#Ludlow East|most recent being in 2021]]. The electoral divisions comprise:

* Ludlow North (the wards of Corve, Whitcliffe and Bringewood together with the parish of [[Bromfield, Shropshire|Bromfield]])
* Ludlow East (the wards of Hayton, Clee View and Rockspring)
* Ludlow South (Gallows Bank and the parishes of [[Ludford, Shropshire|Ludford]], [[Richard's Castle]], [[Ashford Bowdler]] and [[Ashford Carbonell|Ashford Carbonel]]).

===Civil parishes===
Ludford is a separate [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]], with its own parish council, and covers the adjoining places of [[Ludford, Shropshire|Ludford]], Foldgate, Steventon, [[the Sheet]] and Rocks Green. Until 1901 an area of land at the foot of Old Street, called [[Holdgate Fee]], was a detached part of Ludford parish in the town itself. Ludlow Castle was a parish of its own, contained within the castle's walls and the immediate hillside; it was abolished in 1901 and ceded to Ludlow's civil parish.<ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10362866 Vision of Britain] Ludlow Castle</ref> Other than Ludford, the only other civil parish in the present-day that neighbours Ludlow is [[Bromfield, Shropshire|Bromfield]].

The civil parish of [[East Hamlet]], created in 1884 covered a limited area to the east of the town; this parish was largely absorbed by Ludlow's parish as the town expanded into it (in 1901, 1934 and finally in 1987 when it was abolished). Ludlow's parish in 1901 expanded into Ludford to the east (taking in Holdgate Fee and the Steventon New Road area); another two expansions into Ludford in 1934 involved taking in the Whitcliffe (which had been acquired by the burgesses of Ludlow already in the 13th century)<ref>[http://www.friendsofwhitcliffecommon.org.uk Friends of Whitcliffe Common]</ref> and a further part to the east (the Gallows Bank area). 1934 also saw a significant expansion of the Ludlow parish west into Bromfield's parish, on both sides of the Teme; this coupled with the inclusion of Whitcliffe constitutes the western, essentially rural part to Ludlow's civil parish in the present day.

===Parliament===
[[File:Coat of arms of Ludlow.png|thumb|right|upright|The coat of arms of Ludlow date to the creation of the parliamentary borough and pay homage to [[Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York|Richard, Duke of York]]. It displays the white lion of the [[Earl of March]] surrounded by three [[White Rose of York|white roses]] of the [[House of York]].]]
For representation to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], Ludlow falls within the [[South Shropshire (UK Parliament constituency)|South Shropshire constituency]], which has its origins in the [[Ludlow (UK Parliament constituency)|Ludlow]] [[parliamentary borough]] constituency created in 1473, and which until 1868 returned two [[Burgess (title)|burgesses]] to Parliament.

In modern times the Ludlow constituency came to cover a large area of southern Shropshire including [[Bridgnorth]] and after constituency boundary changes was redesignated [[South Shropshire (UK Parliament constituency)|South Shropshire]] ahead of the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 general election]] when the current member, [[Stuart Anderson (politician)|Stuart Anderson]] of the [[Conservative Party (United Kingdom)|Conservative Party]], was elected.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001493 |title=South Shropshire |publisher=BBC |language=en-gb |access-date=29 June 2024}}</ref>