Districts of England

Local authority district

Category	Administrative district
Location	England
Found in	Counties
Created by	Local Government Act 1972 London Government Act 1963
Created	mostly 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1965 some earlier (see text)
Number	296 (as of 2024)
Possible types	Unitary authority area (132) ∟ London borough (32) ∟ Metropolitan district (36) ∟ Non-metropolitan district (62) ∟ Other (2) Two-tier Non-metropolitan district (164)
Possible status	City Royal borough Borough
Populations	2,300 – 1.1 million
Areas	3 – 5,013 km² (1 – 1,936 sq mi)

Politics of England
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The Crown The Monarch Charles III Heir Apparent William, Prince of Wales Prerogative Royal family Succession Privy Council King-in-Parliament King-in-Council Lord-lieutenant England and Wales Kingdom of England English republicanism
Governance HM Government Burnham ministry Prime Minister Andy Burnham (L) First Secretary of State Louise Haigh (L) English departments Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (secretary) Department for Education (secretary) Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (secretary) Department of Health and Social Care (secretary) Department for Transport (secretary) Other departments, agencies and bodies Taxation West Lothian question Former English votes for English laws State-owned enterprises Minister for London Regional minister
Legislative King-in-Parliament: Charles III House of Lords Lord Speaker: The Lord McFall of Alcluith Reform of the House of Lords House of Commons Speaker: Sir Lindsay Hoyle MPs for constituencies Regional Affairs Committee English law Acts (list) Statutory instruments (list) Members (MPs) (list) Current members Elections (by-elections) Political parties Prime Minister's Questions Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Palace of Westminster, London 10 Downing Street, London Elections Constituencies East East Midlands London North East North West South East South West West Midlands Yorks and Humber
Devolution Number 10 North Strategic authorities Greater London Authority Mayor of London London Assembly Combined authorities and combined county authorities Strategic authority mayors Mayoral Council for England International relations Greater London Barnett formula Devolution Proposed English parliament Proposed regional assembly Devolved matters Unionism Independence Sub-national Cornish Assembly Devolution to the North of England Politics of the United Kingdom Devolution in the United Kingdom
Law and justice English law Judiciary King-on-the-Bench: Charles III Supreme Court President: The Lord Reed of Allermuir High Court of Justice Courts Law enforcement agencies Police forces Police and crime commissioner (list)
Local administration History Subdivisions of England Historic counties Ceremonial counties Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties Metropolitan county Non-metropolitan county Greater London Unitary authorities (list) Districts (list) Metropolitan borough Non-metropolitan district London boroughs Civil parishes (list) Former Rural and urban districts in 1973 Urban in 1896–1974 Urban in 1894–95 Directly elected local authority mayors Local twinning Regions East of England London East Midlands West Midlands North East North West South East South West Yorkshire and the Humber
Elections UK general elections in England 1801 co-option 1802 1806 1807 1812 1818 1820 1826 1830 1831 1832 1835 1837 1841 1847 1852 1857 1859 1865 1868 1874 1880 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 1910 (Jan) 1910 (Dec) 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974 (Feb) 1974 (Oct) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 2024 Local elections 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 Police and crime commissioner elections 2012 2016 2021 Referendums 1915–1916 border parishes 1975 2004 North East 2011 2016 Mayoral
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The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. They are officially categorised by the Office for National Statistics as "local authority districts" (LADs). Although the City of London Corporation and the Council of the Isles of Scilly are sui generis local authorities, the Office for National Statistics officially categorises both the City of London and the Isles of Scilly as LADs for statistical purposes. With the exception of those two authorities, every district in England is classified as either a London borough, a metropolitan district, or a non-metropolitan district.

The two types of district in England are 132 unitary authorities (in which a single council provides all local government services) and 164 two-tier districts (in which a district council shares responsibility for providing local government services with a county council). Some English districts have been granted the status of city, royal borough, or borough; these are purely honorific titles and do not alter the powers of their councils.

All city, royal borough, and borough councils are chaired by a mayor who in most cases is a ceremonial figure elected from amongst the district councillors. As of June 2026, 13 districts also have a directly elected local authority mayor who acts as the leader of the council and makes most policy decisions, supported by a cabinet that they choose from amongst the district councillors.