Editing Chester (section)

==Governance==
[[File:Arms of Chester City 02759.jpg|thumb|Arms of Chester City]]
There is one main tier of local government covering Chester, at [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority]] level, being [[Cheshire West and Chester Council]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=Cheshire West and Chester Council |language=en}}</ref> Much of the Chester urban area is an [[unparished area]], but some of the suburbs are included in [[civil parish]]es such as [[Great Boughton]] and [[Upton-by-Chester]] and there is also a small parish in the centre of the city called [[Chester Castle (civil parish)|Chester Castle]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/pabills/200607/local_government_and_public_involvement_in_health.htm |title=Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill |work=United Kingdom Parliament |access-date=9 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810022407/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/pabills/200607/local_government_and_public_involvement_in_health.htm |archive-date=10 August 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The built-up area straddles the two parliamentary constituencies of [[Chester North and Neston]] and [[Chester South and Eddisbury]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=30 January 2025}}</ref>

===Administrative history===
Chester was an [[ancient borough]], with its earliest known charters dating from the twelfth century. It was given the right to appoint its own sheriffs in 1506, making it a [[county corporate]], outside the jurisdiction of the [[Sheriff of Cheshire]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Reports from Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into the Municipal Corporations in England and Wales: Appendix 4 |date=1835 |page=2616 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MHBTAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA2616-IA3 |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref> The borough gained city status in 1541 following the creation of the [[Diocese of Chester]]. The borough was reformed to become a [[municipal borough]] in 1836 under the [[Municipal Corporations Act 1835]], which standardised the way many boroughs operated across the country. As part of the 1836 reforms the borough was enlarged beyond its medieval boundaries to include the [[Boughton, Cheshire|Boughton]] area.<ref>{{cite book |title=Municipal Corporations Act |date=1835 |page=456 |url=https://archive.org/details/statutesunitedk35britgoog/page/456/mode/2up?q=Chester |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Parliamentary Boundaries Act |date=1832 |page=336 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uq0uAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA336 |access-date=30 January 2025}}</ref>

When elected county councils were created in 1889, Chester was considered large enough for its existing borough council to provide county-level services. It was therefore made a [[county borough]], independent from [[Cheshire County Council]].<ref>[[Local Government Act 1888]]</ref> The borough was enlarged in 1936, when it absorbed [[Blacon]], and again in 1954, when it absorbed [[Hoole]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Chester Municipal Borough / County Borough |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10055398 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=30 January 2025}}</ref> The county borough was abolished in 1974, merging with the former [[Chester Rural District]] and [[Tarvin Rural District]] which covered the surrounding rural areas to create a new [[Chester (district)|Chester district]], which was a district-level authority with Cheshire County Council providing county-level services.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972|year=1972|number=2039|access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref> Chester's city status was extended to cover the whole of the district created in 1974.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=46303|page6485|date=31 May 1974}}</ref> In 1992, Chester City Council was given the right to appoint a [[List of mayors of Chester|Lord Mayor]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=52861|page=4553|date=13 March 1992}}</ref>

Chester City Council was abolished in 2009 when local government across Cheshire was reorganised; Cheshire County Council was also abolished, and the three districts of Chester, [[Ellesmere Port and Neston]] and [[Vale Royal]] merged to form a unitary authority called Cheshire West and Chester. [[Charter trustees]] were established to maintain Chester's city status and appoint the Lord Mayor.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Cheshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008|year=2008|number=634|access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Local Government (Structural Changes) (Miscellaneous Amendments and Other Provision) Order 2009|year=2009|number=837}}</ref> Chester's [[City status in the United Kingdom|city status]] is now formally held by the area of the charter trustees, comprising the 15 [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|wards]] of Cheshire West and Chester which correspond to the area of the pre-2009 Chester City Council.<ref name=chartertrustees>{{cite web |title=City of Chester Charter Trustees |url=https://lordmayorchester.co.uk/city-of-chester-charter-trustees/ |publisher=The Lord Mayor of Chester |access-date=10 May 2024}}</ref> The official city therefore includes rural areas beyond Chester's built-up area, and had a total population of 138,875 at the 2021 census, compared to 92,760 for the built-up area.<ref name=2021wards>{{cite web |title=Cheshire West and Chester population by wards, 2021 |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/northwestengland/wards/E06000050__cheshire_west_and_chester/ |website=City Population |access-date=10 May 2024}}</ref>