![Retford town hall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Retford_town_hall.jpg)
Bassetlaw is a local government
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
in
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...
, England. The district has four towns:
Worksop
Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east-south-east of Sheffield, close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on the River Ryton and not far from th ...
,
Tuxford
Tuxford is a historic market town and a civil parish in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 2,516, increasing to 2,649 at the 2011 census.
Geography
Nearby towns are Ollerton, Ret ...
,
Harworth Bircotes
Harworth Bircotes or Harworth and Bircotes is a town and civil parish in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands of England. The parish includes the settlements of Bircotes and Harworth
Harworth is an area in the civil ...
and
Retford
Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England, and one of the oldest English market towns having been granted its first charter in 1105. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterf ...
. It is bounded to the north by the Metropolitan Boroughs of
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
and
Rotherham
Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...
, the east by
West Lindsey
West Lindsey is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England. Its council is based in Gainsborough.
History
The district was formed on 1 April 1974, from the urban districts of Gainsborough, Market Rasen, along with Caistor Rural Dis ...
, the west by both the
Borough of Chesterfield
The Borough of Chesterfield is a non-metropolitan district with borough status in Derbyshire, England. It is named after its main settlement of Chesterfield.
History
The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, ...
and
North East Derbyshire
North East Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. It borders the districts of Chesterfield, Bolsover, Amber Valley and Derbyshire Dales in Derbyshire, and Sheffield and Rotherham in South Yorkshire. The populatio ...
and the south by
Mansfield District
Mansfield District is a local government district in Nottinghamshire, England. Its council is based in the town of Mansfield. The district is bounded by the districts of Ashfield, Newark and Sherwood and Gedling, as well as the Derbyshire distr ...
and
Newark and Sherwood
Newark and Sherwood is a local government district and is the largest district in Nottinghamshire, England. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, by a merger of the municipal borough of Newark with Newark Rural District and Southwell R ...
. The district is along with
Bolsover District,
North East Derbyshire
North East Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. It borders the districts of Chesterfield, Bolsover, Amber Valley and Derbyshire Dales in Derbyshire, and Sheffield and Rotherham in South Yorkshire. The populatio ...
and
Borough of Chesterfield
The Borough of Chesterfield is a non-metropolitan district with borough status in Derbyshire, England. It is named after its main settlement of Chesterfield.
History
The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, ...
is a non-constituent member of the
Sheffield City Region
The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority is the combined authority for South Yorkshire in England, with powers over transport (public transport and major trunk roads only), economic development and regeneration. It covers a total area of 3 ...
.
![Tuxford, Nottinghamshire - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Tuxford%2C_Nottinghamshire_-_geograph.org.uk_-_170060.jpg)
History
Bassetlaw was created as a
non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shi ...
in 1974 by the merger of the municipal boroughs of
Worksop
Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east-south-east of Sheffield, close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on the River Ryton and not far from th ...
and
East Retford
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
and most of
Worksop Rural District and
East Retford Rural District
East Retford was a rural district in Nottinghamshire, England from 1894 to 1974.
It was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 from East Retford rural sanitary district. It entirely surrounded Retford, which was a municipal borough itself ...
following the passage of the
Local Government Act 1972.
Local Government in Nottinghamshire is organised on a two-tier basis, with local district councils such as
Bassetlaw District Council
Bassetlaw may refer to:
* Bassetlaw (UK Parliament constituency), Nottinghamshire constituency in the British House of Commons
* Bassetlaw District General Hospital, a National Health Service hospital in Worksop, Nottinghamshire
* Bassetlaw Distr ...
responsible for local services such as housing,
local planning and
refuse collection and
Nottinghamshire County Council
Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. It consists of 66 county councillors, elected from 56 electoral divisions every four years. The most recent election ...
responsible for "wide-area" services, including
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
,
social services and public transport.
The district is named after the ancient
Bassetlaw wapentake
A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Southern Schleswig, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, ...
of Nottinghamshire.
Settlements
Bassetlaw is divided into 66 parishes, each governed by an elected
parish council or
parish meeting
A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend.
In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish cou ...
. The two main settlements of
Retford
Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England, and one of the oldest English market towns having been granted its first charter in 1105. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterf ...
and
Worksop
Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east-south-east of Sheffield, close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on the River Ryton and not far from th ...
are the only areas of the district that are
unparished, however, both towns are entitled to elect a town mayor via their respective
charter trustees In England and Wales, charter trustees are set up to maintain the continuity of a town charter or city charter after a district with the status of a borough or city has been abolished, until such time as a parish council is established. Duties are ...
.
Politics
Parliamentary constituency
The constituency was created in 1885 by the
Redistribution of Seats Act. Bassetlaw was for many years a
safe seat for the Labour Party. Labour first won the seat in the
1929 general election. However, its
Member of parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
Malcolm MacDonald
Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born 7 January 1950) is an English former professional footballer, manager and media figure. Nicknamed 'Supermac', Macdonald was a quick, powerfully built prolific goalscorer. He played for Fulham, Luton Town, Newcastle ...
was one of the few Labour MPs to join his father
Ramsay MacDonald's
National Government. MacDonald held the seat as a
National Labour candidate in the
1931 election, but was defeated at the next election in 1935 by Labour's
Frederick Bellenger
Captain Frederick John Bellenger (23 July 1894 – 11 May 1968) was a British surveyor, soldier and politician.
Early life
Born in Bethnal Green, London, he was the son of Eugene Bernard Bellenger, a dairyman, and his wife Isabella Annette ''nà ...
.
The constituency was held by the Labour Party until December 2019, when the incumbent Labour MP John Mann stood down to take on a full-time role as the government's antisemitism tsar. He was later given a life peerage in Theresa May's resignation honours list, styling himself Baron Mann, of Holbeck Moor in the City of Leeds. In the
2019 general election the Conservative Party candidate Brendan Clarke-Smith won the seat with the biggest swing in the election, turning a 4,852 Labour majority into a 14,013 Conservative majority and becoming the first non-Labour MP to represent the constituency in 90 years.
Members of Parliament:
*1929-1935
Malcolm MacDonald
Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born 7 January 1950) is an English former professional footballer, manager and media figure. Nicknamed 'Supermac', Macdonald was a quick, powerfully built prolific goalscorer. He played for Fulham, Luton Town, Newcastle ...
(Labour, National Labour)
*1935-1968
Frederick Bellenger
Captain Frederick John Bellenger (23 July 1894 – 11 May 1968) was a British surveyor, soldier and politician.
Early life
Born in Bethnal Green, London, he was the son of Eugene Bernard Bellenger, a dairyman, and his wife Isabella Annette ''nà ...
(Labour)
*1968-2001
Joe Ashton
Joseph William Ashton (9 October 1933 – 30 March 2020) was a British Labour Party politician who was known for his defence of the rights of Labour Members of Parliament (MPs) against the demands of the left wing of the party to subject them ...
(Labour)
*2001-2019
John Mann (Labour)
*2019-current
Brendan Clarke-Smith
Brendan Clarke-Smith (born 17 August 1980) is a British Conservative Party politician and former teacher serving as Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office between September and October 2022. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of ...
Conservative
Council elections
Bassetlaw District Council was created in 1974 following the passage of the
Local Government Act 1972. The first elections to the council took place on
7 June 1973, which resulted in the
Labour Party taking control of the newly created council after winning 29 of 51 seats available. Following the next set of elections in
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 ...
, the Labour Party lost its majority and no single party held a majority of seats. Labour regained control of the council following the
1979 local elections and continued to hold a majority of seats on the council for a further 25 years until they once again lost their majority in 2004. In
2006, the
Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
gained control of the council for the first time and held control until
2010 when a series of by-election defeats caused them to lose their majority. Labour regained control of the council in
2011 for the first time in seven years and has been in control of the council since.
The most recent council election on 2 May 2019 resulted in the
Labour Party retaining its control of the council with an increased majority. The
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
suffered its worst defeat in Bassetlaw since 1973, winning only 5 seats of the 12 seats it was defending. Both
Independents and Labour gained seats from the Conservatives. The
Liberal Democrats gained a seat from Labour in East Retford West, the first Liberal Democrat elected in Bassetlaw since 2006.
Wards
Bassetlaw is divided into 25 wards for electoral purposes. Each ward returns either one, two or three councillors at each election depending upon the number of electors within each ward.
Demography
Population
Religion
Town twinning
*
Farmers Branch, Texas
Farmers Branch, officially the City of Farmers Branch, is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is an inner-ring suburb of Dallas and is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 28,616 at the 2010 census.
Known as ...
, USA
*
Garbsen
Garbsen () is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Leine, approx. 11 km northwest of Hanover. The name Garbsen can be traced back to 1223. Today's 13 city districts have partly developed i ...
, Germany
*
Pfungstadt
Pfungstadt is a town of 25,029 inhabitants (2020), in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in the state of Hesse, Germany.
History
The town was first mentioned in 785 as property of the Monastery of Lorsch and got its town rights in 1886 due to its ...
, Germany
*
Aurillac, France
References
{{Authority control
Non-metropolitan districts of Nottinghamshire