Editing Devizes (section)

==Governance==
[[File:Town Hall - geograph.org.uk - 945900.jpg|thumb|[[Devizes Town Hall]]]]
Devizes is a [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] with an elected [[town council]]. {{As of|2024}}, 11 councillors are [[Devizes Guardians]], 7 [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]], 1 [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] and 2 Independent.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Your Councillors |url=https://www.devizes-tc.gov.uk/your-councillors/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Devizes Town Council |language=en-GB}}</ref> The parish includes the small settlement of '''Dunkirk''', on the northeastern slopes of the hill, which was transferred from [[Rowde]] parish in 1835.<ref name="vch">{{cite web|website=British History Online|title=Victoria County History – Wiltshire – Vol 10 pp225-252 – The borough of Devizes: Town, castle and estates|editor-first=Elizabeth|editor-last=Crittall|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol10/pp225-252|publisher=University of London|access-date=30 May 2016}}</ref> Much of the built-up area of the town, to the north, east, and south, is within the neighbouring civil parish of [[Roundway]], while a smaller part is in [[Bishops Cannings]] parish, and each of those has its own parish council. In April 2017, Roundway and Devizes elected for the first time a joint parish council; at the same time, adjustments to the boundary with Bishops Canning were made.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/14833838.Two_become_one_in_council_merger/|title=Two become one in council merger|last=Moore|first=Joanne|date=31 October 2016|website=The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald|access-date=10 December 2016}}</ref>

The town is within the area of the [[Wiltshire Council]] [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority]], on which the four elected members for Devizes are [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]].<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Your Councillors |url=https://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Wiltshire Council |language=en}}</ref> Most significant [[local government]] services are the responsibility of Wiltshire Council, while the town and parish councils have a more consultative role. Before the [[Local Government Act 1972|Local Government Act]] took effect in 1974, Devizes was a [[municipal borough]] with its headquarters at [[Devizes Town Hall]].<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Town Hall|num=1262331|access-date=26 June 2021}}</ref> It then became the administrative centre for the much larger [[Kennet (district)|District of Kennet]], until that was abolished as part of the [[2009 structural changes to local government in England|2009 structural changes]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/documents/s148176/Council_Size_Submission_Mar_18.pdf|title=Electoral Review|date=1 March 2018|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=26 June 2021|archive-date=29 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629202914/https://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/documents/s148176/Council_Size_Submission_Mar_18.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The town has four [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|electoral wards]]. The North and East wards follow the boundaries of the civil parish, while Devizes and Roundway South ward extends southward to include part of the original Roundway parish, the remainder of which makes up the fourth ward, Roundway. The total population of these wards at the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]] was 12,491<ref>{{cite web|title=Three Devizes wards – 2011 Census|url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadAreaSearch.do?a=7&r=1&i=1001&m=0&enc=1&areaSearchText=devizes&areaSearchType=14&extendedList=true&searchAreas=|website=Neighbourhood Statistics|publisher=Office for National Statistics|access-date=30 May 2016}}</ref> but in 2017 with the addition of Roundway as the fourth ward, the population grew to over 17,700.

Devizes is part of the [[Melksham and Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)|Melksham and Devizes]] Westminster constituency, created following boundary changes and first contested at the 2024 general election, when it was won by [[Brian Mathew (politician)|Brian Mathew]] for the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 July 2024 |title=Melksham and Devizes – General election results 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001356 |access-date=2024-07-20 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

The council has [[Sister city|twinning associations]] with [[Mayenne (commune)|Mayenne]] in France, [[Oamaru]] in New Zealand, [[Tornio]] in Finland, and [[Waiblingen]] in Germany.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.devizes-tc.gov.uk/civic-life/twinning?highlight=WyJ0d2luIiwidHdpbm5pbmciLCJ0d2lubmVkIl0=|title=Twinning|work=devizes-tc.gov.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.devizes-twinning.org.uk|work=devizes-twinning.org.uk|title=Welcome to the Devizes and District Twinning Association Website}}</ref>