Bolton Metropolitan Borough was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the combined areas of seven former local government districts and part of an eighth, which were all abolished at the same time:[5]
As a county borough, the old borough of Bolton had been administratively independent from any county council, but was deemed part of Lancashire for ceremonial purposes.[6] The other seven districts had all been part of the administrative county of Lancashire prior to 1974, with Lancashire County Council serving as their upper tier authority. When the metropolitan borough of Bolton was created in 1974 it was transferred to the new metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, with Greater Manchester Council providing county-level services. The Greater Manchester Council was abolished in 1986, after which Bolton became a unitary authority, providing all local government services.
Bolton Council unsuccessfully petitioned Elizabeth II for the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton to be granted city status in 1992 (the Queen's 40th year as monarch), in 2000 (for the Millennium celebrations), in 2002 (Queen's Golden Jubilee), and 2012 (Queen's Diamond Jubilee).[7]
Parishes
Horwich, Westhoughton and Blackrod are now constituted as civil parishes, each having a town council: Westhoughton Town Council, Horwich Town Council and Blackrod Town Council. The rest of the metropolitan borough, covering the town of Bolton itself, Farnworth, Kearsley, Little Lever, and South Turton, have remained unparished areas since 1974.
Demographics
Population change
The table below details the population change since 1801, including the percentage change since the last available census data. Although the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton has only existed since 1974, figures have been generated by combining data from the towns, villages, and civil parishes that would later be constituent parts of the borough.
Pre-1974 statistics were gathered from local government areas that now comprise the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton Source: Vision of Britain[8]
Ethnicity
According to the 2021 census, of the 295,963 people living in Bolton Metropolitan Borough, the following list shows the population of Bolton by ethnicity:[4]
In 2007, Bolton was ranked 69th out of the 149 Local Education Authorities – and sixth out of ten in Greater Manchester – for its National Curriculum assessment performance.[12] Measured on the percentage of pupils attaining at least 5 A*–C grades at GCSE including maths and English, the Bolton LEA was 111th out of 149: 40.1% of pupils achieved this objective, against a national average of 46.7%.[13] Unauthorised absence from Bolton's secondary schools in the 2006/2007 academic year was 1.4%, in line with the national average, and authorised absence was 6.0% against the national average of 6.4%.[14] At GCSE level, Bolton School (Girls' Division) was the most successful of Bolton's 21 secondary schools, with 99% of pupils achieving at least 5 A*–C grades at including maths and English.[15]
The University of Bolton is one of Greater Manchester's four universities. In 2008, The Times Good University Guide ranked it 111th of 113 institutions in Britain.[16] There are 4,440 students (83% undergraduate, 17% postgraduate); 2.6% come from outside Britain. In 2007 there were 8.8 applications for every place, and student satisfaction was recorded as 74.4%. It is one of Britain's newest universities, having been given this status in 2005.[17]
The local authority is Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, which styles itself "Bolton Council". Since 2011 it has been a constituent member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, providing strategic co-ordination of local government across the ten metropolitan boroughs of Greater Manchester. Since 2017 the combined authority has been led by the directly-elected Mayor of Greater Manchester.
Twin towns
The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton has two twin towns, one in France and another in Germany.[18]
^"The University of Bolton". Times Online: Good University Guide website. London: Times Online (Times Newspapers Ltd). 15 August 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
^"University of Bolton". The Sunday Times University Guide website. London: The Sunday Times (Times Newspapers Ltd). 23 September 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2008.