A new political map for Canterbury City Council

Canterbury City Council is set to have new boundaries for its council wards. 

Proposed wards for Canterbury

Credit: contains Ordnance Survey data (c) Crown copyright and database rights 2024

High resolution map available at https://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/canterbury

The Local Government Boundary Commission is the independent body that draws these boundaries. It has reviewed Canterbury to make sure councillors will represent about the same number of electors, and that ward arrangements will help the council work effectively. 

The Commission has published final recommendations for changes in Canterbury. It says residents should be represented by 40 councillors. This is an increase of 1 councillor from the existing arrangements.

There will be 24 council wards, consisting of 1 three-councillor ward, 14 two-councillor wards and 9 single-councillor wards. 15 of the existing wards will change, 6 will stay the same, 3 will be newly created.

Publishing the recommendations Professor Colin Mellors, Chair of the Commission, said:

“We are very grateful to people in Canterbury. We looked at all the views they gave us. They helped us improve our earlier proposals. 

We believe the new arrangements will deliver electoral fairness while maintaining local ties.” 

We received 81 comments from people and organisations to help decide the new wards. Changes in response to what local people said include: 

• As part of our final recommendations, we have retained Thanington parish in a ward with the Wincheap area of Canterbury, instead of including it in a ward with Chartham and other parishes to the south of the local authority area. 

• We also rename three of our draft recommendation wards, as part of our final proposals 

Details of all the changes made to the earlier proposals can be found in a report on our website at https://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/canterbury.

The changes become law once Parliament has approved them. Staff at the Canterbury City Council will ensure that the arrangements are in place for the 2027 elections. 

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Notes to editors: 

For further information contact the Commission’s press office on 0330 500 1525 / 1250 or email press@lgbce.org.uk 

An interactive map is available at https://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/canterbury.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is an independent body accountable to Parliament. It recommends fair electoral and boundary arrangements for local authorities in England. In doing so, it aims to:

• Make sure that, within an authority, each councillor represents a similar number of electors

• Create boundaries that are appropriate, and reflect community ties and identities

• Deliver reviews informed by local needs, views and circumstances