title: Borough of Darlington
text: Borough of Darlington, or Darlington borough, is a unitary authority area in County Durham, Northern England. It is named after the town of Darlington and in the Tees Valley mayoral area. The area borders three local authority areas; the County Durham district is to the north and west, Stockton-on-Tees to the east and North Yorkshire to the south, the River Tees forming the border for the latter. In 2011, the borough had a population of 106,000. The council is .
  
  History
  
  The current borough boundaries were formed on 1 April 1974, by the creation of a new non-metropolitan district of Darlington by the Local Government Act 1972, covering the previous county borough of Darlington along with nearly all of Darlington Rural District (the Newton Aycliffe parts of which went to Sedgefield). It remained part of County Durham for administrative purposes until it was granted unitary authority status on 1 April 1997. For ceremonial purposes it remains part of County Durham, with whom it continues to share certain local services, such as Fire and Rescue and Police. It is included within the Tees Valley area for both cultural and regional government administration.
  
  Council
  
  It is made up of 20 council wards, sixteen within the town of Darlington itself, which are also covered by the Darlington parliamentary constituency and four rural wards of Heighington & Coniscliffe, Hurworth, Middleton St George and Sadberge & Whessoe (part of the Sedgefield parliamentary constituency.
  
  The council operates a Leader and Cabinet model of political leadership although a group of local residents aimed to force a referendum on moving to a system with directly elected executive Mayor. Their bid was unsuccessful.
  
  Settlements
  As well as Darlington itself the borough includes the surrounding villages of:
   Archdeacon Newton
   Barmpton
   Beaumont Hill
   Bishopton
   Blackwell
   Brafferton
   Coatham Mundeville
   Denton
   Great Burdon
   Great Stainton
   Heighington
   High Coniscliffe
  Houghton
  Houghton Bank
  Houghton-le-Side
  Hurworth
  Hurworth-on-Tees
  Hurworth Place
  Neasham
   Killerby
   Little Stainton
   Low Dinsdale
  Near airport
  Middleton One Row
  Middleton St George
  Oak Tree
   Piercebridge
   Redworth
   Sadberge
   Summerhouse
  Walworth
  Walworth
  Walworth Gate
  
  It is home to Teesside International Airport (previously known as Durham Tees Valley Airport).
  
  Economy
  This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Darlington at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
  
   includes hunting and forestry
  
   includes energy and construction
  
   includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
  
   Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
  
  Freedom of the Borough
  The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Darlington.
  
  Individuals
   John Williams: 24 November 2011. 
   Alasdair MacConachie: 24 November 2011.
  
  Military Units
   The Light Infantry: 1996.
   The Rifles: 17 September 2010.
  
  References
  
  External links
    Darlington Borough Council
   Darlington Tourist Information
   Darlington Railway Centre & Museum
   Darlington Arts Centre & Civic Theatre
  
  Video clips 
   Darlington Borough Council YouTube channel
  
   
  Local government in County Durham
  Unitary authority districts of England
  Places in the Tees Valley
  Local government districts of North East England
  Boroughs in England