Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom
The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ward is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil parishes and borough and district councils, the electoral ward is the unit used by Welsh principal councils, while the electoral division is the unit used by English county councils and some unitary authorities. Each ward/division has an average electorate of about 5,500 people, but ward population counts can vary substantially. As of 2021 there are 8,694 electoral wards/divisions in the UK. An average area of wards or electoral divisions in the United Kingdom is.
England
The London boroughs, metropolitan boroughs and non-metropolitan districts are divided into wards for local elections. However, county council elections instead use the term electoral division. In non-metropolitan county areas with both wards and electoral divisions, the boundaries of the two types of divisions may sometimes not coincide, but more often the county electoral divisions will be made up of one or more complete wards.In urban areas, the wards within a local authority area typically each contain roughly the same number of electors, and each elect three councillors. In local authorities with mixed urban and rural areas, the number of councillors may vary from one to three, depending on the size of the electorate. Where civil parishes exist, a ward can be adjacent with a civil parish or consist of groups of civil parishes. Larger civil parishes can be divided into two or more wards.
City of London
The City of London has its own sui generis form of local government and is divided into wards, which are ancient and very long-standing sub-divisions of the city.Isles of Scilly
The Council of the Isles of Scilly is also a sui generis unitary authority, and has five wards, each returning either 1 or 12 councillors to the Council of the Isles of Scilly.Civil parishes
are sometimes divided into wards for elections to the parish council. They need not bear any relation to wards or electoral divisions at district level, but often do.Historic use
The four most northerly ancient counties of England – Cumberland, Westmorland, County Durham and Northumberland – were historically divided into administrative units called wards instead of hundreds or wapentakes, as in other counties. Wards were areas originally organised for military purposes, each centred on a castle.Wales
In Wales, the term electoral ward is used for elections to principal councils. These were formally called electoral divisions.Communities in Wales are sometimes divided into wards for elections to the community council.