Editing Hartlepool (section)

==Governance==
{{further|Borough of Hartlepool}}
There is one main tier of local government covering Hartlepool, at [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority]] level: [[Hartlepool Borough Council]]. There is a [[civil parish]] covering Headland, which forms an additional tier of local government for that area; most of the rest of the urban area is an [[unparished area]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=28 February 2024}}</ref> The borough council is a constituent member of the [[Tees Valley Combined Authority]], led by the directly elected [[Tees Valley Mayor]]. The borough council is based at the Civic Centre on Victoria Road.

Hartlepool was historically a [[Township (England)|township]] in the [[ancient parish]] of [[Hart, County Durham|Hart]]. Hartlepool was also an [[ancient borough]], having been granted a charter by [[John, King of England|King John]] in 1200.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Surtees |first1=Robert |title=The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham: Volume 3 |date=1823 |publisher=Nichols and Son |location=London |pages=99–120 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/antiquities-durham/vol3/pp99-120 |access-date=28 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into the Municipal Corporations in England and Wales: Appendix 3 |date=1835 |page=1531 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N3FTAAAAcAAJ&pg=1531 |access-date=28 February 2024}}</ref> The borough was reformed to become a [[municipal borough]] in 1850.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hartlepool Municipal Borough / County Borough |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10173700 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=28 February 2024}}</ref> The council built [[Hartlepool Borough Hall]] to serve as its headquarters, being completed in 1866.<ref>{{NHLE|desc= Borough Buildings and Borough Hall, Middlegate |num= 1263357|access-date=11 December 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Hartlepool - Design College - from south - geograph.org.uk - 4180516.jpg|thumb|Municipal Buildings, Church Square: Headquarters of West Hartlepool Borough Council from 1889, then of the enlarged Hartlepool Borough Council from 1967. Replaced by new Civic Centre on Victoria Road in the 1970s.]]
West Hartlepool was laid out on land outside Hartlepool's historic borough boundaries, in the neighbouring parish of [[Stranton]]. A body of [[improvement commissioners]] was established to administer the new town in 1854.<ref>{{cite web |title=West Hartlepool Improvement Act 1854 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/17-18/41/contents/enacted |website=legislation.gov.uk |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=28 February 2024}}</ref> The commissioners were superseded in 1887, when West Hartlepool was also incorporated as a municipal borough.<ref>{{cite web |title=West Hartlepool Municipal Borough / County Borough |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10041946 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=29 February 2024}}</ref> The new borough council built itself a headquarters at the Municipal Buildings on Church Square, which was completed in 1889.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Cleveland College of Art and Design, former Municipal Buildings, Church Square|num=1250113|grade=II|access-date=29 February 2024}}</ref> An events venue and public hall on Raby Road called [[West Hartlepool Town Hall]] was subsequently completed in 1897.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Town Hall, Hartlepool|num=1250394|access-date=4 February 2021}}</ref> In 1902 West Hartlepool was elevated to become a [[county borough]], making it independent from [[Durham County Council]]. The old Hartlepool Borough Council amalgamated with West Hartlepool Borough Council in 1967 to form a county borough called Hartlepool.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=1967-02-07a.1516.4 |title= Local Government Boundaries (Hartlepool) |date=7 February 1967|publisher=House of Commons Debates| access-date=11 December 2021}}</ref>

In 1974 the borough was enlarged to take in eight neighbouring parishes, and was transferred to the new county of [[Cleveland (county)|Cleveland]].<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972|year=1972|number=2039|access-date=28 February 2024}}</ref> Cleveland was abolished in 1996 following the [[Banham Review]], which gave unitary authority status to its four districts, including Hartlepool. The borough was restored to County Durham for [[ceremonial county|ceremonial]] purposes under the [[Lieutenancies Act 1997]], but as a unitary authority it is independent from Durham County Council.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1997/23/schedule/1/data.htm|title=Lieutenancies Act 1997|website=legislation.gov.uk|access-date=2020-02-14}}</ref>

===Council===
{{See also|Hartlepool Borough Council}}
After boundary changes introduced in 2019, the borough is now divided into 12 electoral wards, each of which elects three councillors who make up the 36 councillors of the borough council.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: 600px; margin:0.5em auto;"
|+The twelve wards of Hartlepool Borough Council
|-
| Burn Valley || De Brus || Fens & Greatham || Foggy Furze
|-
| Hart || Headland & Harbour ||Throston || Manor House
|-
| Rural West || Seaton || Victoria ||Rossmere
|}

===Members of Parliament===
{{see also|Hartlepool (UK Parliament constituency)}}
Hartlepool is represented in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] by one Member of Parliament. The current MP for the [[Hartlepool (constituency)|Hartlepool constituency]] is [[Jonathan Brash]] of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]]. He was elected at the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 general election]] with 46.2% of the vote.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hartlepool - General election results 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001272 |access-date=13 September 2024 |work=BBC News |date=5 July 2024}}</ref>

Members of Parliament for Hartlepool since 1945 have been:
{| class="toccolours" style="font-size:88%"
! Colour key
|-
|{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
{{legend|{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}|[[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
{{legend|{{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]]|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
{{div col end}}
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan="2" style="" |Name
! Term of office
! Political party
! class=unsortable|Offices held
|-
! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[David Thomas Jones]]
| 1945–1959
|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|
|-
! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
|[[John Simon Kerans]]
| 1959–1964
|[[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
|
|-
! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Edward Leadbitter]]
| 1964–1992
|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|
|-
! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Peter Mandelson]]
| 1992–2004
|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|[[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland]] (11 October 1999 – 24 January 2001),<br /> [[Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform|Secretary of State for Trade and Industry]] (27 July 1998 – 23 December 1998),<br /> [[Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)|Minister without Portfolio]] (2 May 1997 – 27 July 1998)
|-
! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Iain Wright]]
| 2004–2017
|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|[[Department for Children, Schools and Families|Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for 14–19 Reform and Apprenticeships]] (9 June 2009 – 11 May 2010)
|-
! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Mike Hill (British politician)|Mike Hill]]
| 2017–2021
|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|
|-
! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Jill Mortimer]]
| 2021–2024
|[[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
|-
! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Jonathan Brash]]
| 2024–
|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|
|}

Mandelson, the MP between 1992 and 2004, resigned to take up a role in the [[European Commission]]. On 13 October 2008, he was created Baron Mandelson of [[Foy, Herefordshire|Foy]] and Hartlepool following his appointment as [[Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform]] in the British Government.

===Emergency services===

Hartlepool falls within the jurisdiction of [[Cleveland Fire Brigade]] and [[Cleveland Police]]. Before 1974, it was under the jurisdiction of the [[Durham Constabulary]] and [[Durham Fire Brigade]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-46261480/hartlepool-the-town-where-police-don-t-come-out Hartlepool: The town where ‘police don’t come out’] [[BBC]]</ref> Hartlepool  has two fire stations: a full-time station at [[Stranton]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clevelandfire.gov.uk/your-area/hartlepool/stranton-fire-station/|title=Stranton Fire Station - Cleveland Fire Brigade|website=clevelandfire.gov.uk|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623115321/http://www.clevelandfire.gov.uk/your-area/hartlepool/stranton-fire-station/|archive-date=23 June 2016}}</ref> and a retained station on the Headland.