Bassetlaw District

Bassetlaw is a local government district in north Nottinghamshire, England. Its council is based in the town of Worksop; the other towns in the district are Retford, Tuxford and Harworth Bircotes. The district also contains numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.

Bassetlaw is bounded to the south by the Newark and Sherwood and Mansfield districts, to the south-west by the Bolsover district of Derbyshire, to the north-west by the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham and the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, to the north by North Lincolnshire, and to the east by West Lindsey.

Bassetlaw has been a non-constituent member of the East Midlands Combined County Authority since its estalishment in 2024.. Simultaneously, the district maintains an indirect relationship as a non-constituent member of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Authority.

History

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole of two former districts and most of another two, which were all abolished at the same time:

• East Retford Municipal Borough
• East Retford Rural District (except parish of Finningley, which went to Doncaster)
• Worksop Municipal Borough
• Worksop Rural District (except part of parish of Harworth, which went to Doncaster and was added to the parish of Bawtry)

The new district was named Bassetlaw after the medieval Bassetlaw Wapentake, which had covered a similar area. The council's logo now says "Bassetlaw District Council – North Nottinghamshire".

Governance

Bassetlaw District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Nottinghamshire County Council. Much of the district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2011.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1981 have been:

Composition

Following the 2023 election, and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was:

Three independent councillors sit together as a group. The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2002 the council has comprised 48 councillors representing 25 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Most of the district is within the Bassetlaw constituency. The south-east of the district, including Tuxford, is in the Newark constituency.

Premises

Council meetings are held at both Worksop Town Hall, built in 1851, and Retford Town Hall, built in 1868, both of which the council inherited from its predecessor authorities. The council's main offices are at Queen's Buildings, completed in 1981 on Potter Street in Worksop, adjoining the Town Hall. The council also maintains an area office in Harworth.

Settlements

Bassetlaw is divided into 64 parishes, each governed by an elected parish council or parish meeting. The two main settlements of Retford and Worksop 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.

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

Media

Bassetlaw receives better TV signals from the Emley Moor transmitter rather than Waltham transmitter which means the area is served by BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire, both broadcast from Leeds.

Radio stations that broadcast to the area are BBC Radio Sheffield, Greatest Hits Radio South Yorkshire, Hits Radio South Yorkshire, Doncaster Radio and Trust AM, an online hospital radio station serving the Bassetlaw District General Hospital in Worksop.[citation needed]

Bassetlaw's local newspapers are Worksop Guardian and Retford Times.[citation needed]

Town twinning

• United States Farmers Branch, Texas, USA
• Germany Garbsen, Germany
• Germany Pfungstadt, Germany
• France Aurillac, France

53°24′N 0°57′W/53.40°N 0.95°W/ 53.40; -0.95