Preston is a city of Lancashire, England. The districts of Preston vary in size and shape, many of which reflect the districts developed from former villages and boroughs which now lie within the boundaries of the city of Preston. Districts of Preston have little administrative purpose: for local elections voters in each return either two, or three, councillors to Town Hall. For the purposes of national General elections, the parliamentary constituencies representing the city use the electoral districts as "building bricks"
The City of Preston is divided into 22 wards, which are used in the creation of "Area Forums", local consultative bodies organised by city council; and also the composition of parliamentary constituencies.
Electors in each ward return two, or three, electors to Town Hall in elections, results of which can be found at Preston local elections.
Since 2010, the City of Preston has been covered by three parliamentary constituencies, Preston, Wyre and Preston North and Fylde. Those wards formerly within the Ribble Valley constituency, on the whole, now form the southern flank of the newly created constituency of Wyre and Preston North.
The wards are used to build electoral divisions for elections to Lancashire County Council. The unparished area of Preston (or urban core) had a population of 122,719 in 2011 and did not include the wards Preston Rural North, Preston Rural East and Lea. The wider city and non metropolitan district had a population of 140,202 in the same census.
| Map | County Council division | Ward | Area forum | Parishes | Other places | Parliamentary constituency (from 2010) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preston Rural | 1. Preston Rural North | Rural | 1a. Barton | Newsham | Wyre and Preston North | |
| 1b. Goosnargh | Beacon Fell, Inglewhite, Whitechapel | |||||
| 1c. Whittingham | Goosnargh, Cumeragh Village | |||||
| 1d. Woodplumpton | Catforth, Eaves, Higher Bartle, Nog Tow | |||||
| 2. Preston Rural East | 2a. Broughton | Fernyhalgh | ||||
| 2b. Grimsargh | Elston | |||||
| 2c. Haighton | Cow Hill, Haighton Green, Haighton Top | |||||
| Preston North | 3. Cadley | North (Fulwood) | unparished area (Preston) | Nooklands | ||
| 4. Greyfriars | ||||||
| Preston North East | 5. Garrison | Fulwood Row, Ladyewell | ||||
| 6. Sharoe Green | Sherwood | |||||
| Preston Central North | 7. College | |||||
| 8. Deepdale | East | Holme Slack | Preston | |||
| 9. Moor Park | Central | |||||
| Preston Central South | 10. St George's | Adelphi | ||||
| 11. Tulketh | Lane Ends, Maudlands | |||||
| 12. University | Adelphi, Maudlands | |||||
| Preston City | 13. Riversway | Broadgate, Christ Church | ||||
| 14. Town Centre | Avenham, Frenchwood, Winckley Square | |||||
| Preston South East | 15. Fishwick | East | Farringdon Park | |||
| 16. St Matthew's | ||||||
| Preston East | 17. Brookfield | |||||
| 18. Ribbleton | Farringdon Park, Grange, Red Scar, Ribbleton Hall | |||||
| Preston North West | 19. Ashton | West | ||||
| 20. Larches | Savick | |||||
| Preston West | 21. Ingol | Ingol and Tanterton | Tanterton | |||
| 22. Lea | Lea | Cottam, Lea Town | Fylde |
The wards of Preston Rural North, Preston Rural East and Lea are parished: they contain parish councils with their own structure and elected councillors. All the other wards lie in an unparished area and are governed directly by Preston City Council.
The name "Preston" is associated with a number of different areas that are related to the city:
| Name | Preston | City of Preston | Preston conurbation | Preston Urban Area | Preston Metropolitan Area | PRESTON | PR postcode area also known as Preston postcode area | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Map | shown within the City of Preston | shown with the parishes of the City of Preston | shown within Central Lancashire | shown within the PR postcode area | ||||
| Type | unparished area | local government district | conurbation | ONS urban area | metropolitan area | post town | postcode area | |
| Population (2001) | 112,019[1] | 129,633[2] | 184,836[3] | 264,601 | 354,000[4] | |||
| Extent | Preston city centre, Fulwood, Ribbleton, Ashton-on-Ribble, | Preston (unparished area), Barton, Broughton, Grimsargh, Goosnargh, Haighton, Ingol and Tanterton, Lea, Whittingham, Woodplumpton | urban parts of:Preston (unparished area), Cottam, Lea, Ingol, Grimsargh, Penwortham, Bamber Bridge, Walton-le-Dale, Clayton Brook, Whittle-le-Woods, Walton Summit, Farington, Lostock Hall, Tardy Gate | the five conurbations:Preston Leyland, Chorley, Euxton, Wymott Prison | City of Preston, South Ribble, Chorley, eastern half of Wyre, eastern half of Fylde, north east part of West Lancashire, western fringes of Ribble Valley[5] | postcode districts PR1 - PR5 | post towns:PRESTON, CHORLEY, SOUTHPORT, LEYLAND |