Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a Royal Borough of Berkshire, in South East England. It became a unitary authority on 1 April 1998.

It is home to Windsor Castle, Eton College, Legoland and Ascot Racecourse.

The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 as a non-metropolitan district of Berkshire, under the Local Government Act 1972, from parts of the former administrative counties of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. From Berkshire came the boroughs of Maidenhead and Windsor, and the rural districts of Cookham and Windsor, and from Buckinghamshire came the Eton urban district, and the parishes of Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury from the rural district of Eton. It inherited royal borough status from Windsor, the site of Windsor Castle.

It gained unitary authority status in 1998 with the abolition of Berkshire County Council. It is the only Royal Borough outside Greater London.

Towns and villages
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead contains the following towns and villages

Westminster
The Royal Borough is represented at Westminster by two members of parliament of the Conservative Party: Adam Afriyie (Windsor) and Theresa May (Maidenhead). The UK Parliamentary constituency of Maidenhead has been held by the Conservative Party since its creation in 1997, while the UK Parliamentary constituency of Windsor has been held by the Conservative Party since its creation in 1874. The two seats are considered to be safe Conservative seats.

Local government
The Royal Borough is currently under a Conservative administration. Elections for councillors to the Royal Borough take place every four years; the last took place in 2011.

The political control of the Royal Borough is as follows:

The 23 wards of the Royal Borough are represented by 57 councillors as follows:

Since the election, Councillors Tom and Catherine Bursnall have switched allegance from the Conservative party to the UK Independence Party.

Parish and town councils
There are 14 parish councils and 1 town council in the borough. They are: Bisham, Bray, Cookham, Cox Green, Datchet, Eton (town), Horton, Hurley, Old Windsor, Shottesbrooke, Sunningdale, Sunninghill and Ascot, Waltham St Lawrence, White Waltham, Wraysbury.

The towns of Maidenhead and Windsor are unparished.

Education
Unlike the rest of Berkshire, the Windsor and Maidenhead LEA uses the three-tier system.

Twin towns
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is twinned with the following Towns:


 * 🇫🇷 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France – established 1955 with Royal Borough of New Windsor.
 * 🇫🇷 Saint-Cloud, France – established 1957 with Maidenhead.
 * 🇩🇪 Bad Godesberg, Germany – established 1960 with Maidenhead.
 * 🇩🇪 Goslar, Germany – established 1969 with Royal Borough of New Windsor.
 * 🇮🇹 Frascati, Italy – established 1972 with Maidenhead.
 * 🇧🇪 Kortrijk, Belgium – established 1981 with Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.