{"id":14243,"date":"2025-09-10T12:49:57","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T12:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/?p=14243"},"modified":"2025-11-24T14:01:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T14:01:19","slug":"in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/","title":{"rendered":"In 2026 Blackpool Celebrates 150 Years of Being a Borough"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Blackpool marks one hundred and fifty years since its incorporation, no official celebrations have yet been announced. Instead, the focus of the Council remains on development projects, the Town Deal, and preparations for its role in the new Combined County Authority. The story of Blackpool\u2019s governance begins on January 21st, 1876. That day, the seaside town was granted its Charter of Incorporation, formally establishing it as a municipal borough. The first mayor, Dr. William Henry Cocker<\/strong><\/a>, took office\u2014signalling the beginning of a new chapter in local self-government.<\/p>\n

Before incorporation, Blackpool was administered by a local board of health, set up in 1851. But the town\u2019s fortunes changed dramatically in 1846, when the railway arrived. It opened Blackpool\u2019s beaches to thousands of working-class holidaymakers from Lancashire and Yorkshire. The rapid growth that followed demanded a stronger, more independent system of governance. With its charter, Blackpool gained just that\u2014a town council, complete with mayor, aldermen, and councillors.<\/p>\n

Over the decades that followed, the structure of Blackpool\u2019s authority would evolve again and again. In 1904, it became a county borough, free from Lancashire County Council, with control over county-level services. In 1974, reforms placed it back under Lancashire\u2019s administration, this time as a non-metropolitan district. And then, on April 1st, 1998, Blackpool regained its independence as a unitary authority, taking back full responsibility for its own services.<\/p>\n

Now, in 2025, a new chapter begins. Blackpool will join the Lancashire Combined County Authority\u2014part of a wider push to strengthen collaboration and development across the region. From a small seaside hamlet to a major coastal resort, its journey of governance tells the story of a town that has continually reshaped itself to meet the demands of growth and change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Blackpool marks one hundred and fifty years since its incorporation, no official celebrations have yet been announced. Instead, the focus of the Council remains on development projects, the Town Deal, and preparations for its role in the new Combined County Authority. The story of Blackpool\u2019s governance begins on January 21st, 1876.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14246,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[414],"tags":[180,353,415],"class_list":["post-14243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-414","tag-events","tag-government","tag-415"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBlackpool Celebrates 150 Years as a Borough<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Blackpool\u2019s 150 Years Borough milestone shines a light on its evolution from a health board to full local authority\u2014discover the history behind the celebration.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In 2026 Blackpool Celebrates 150 Years of Being a Borough\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Blackpool\u2019s 150 Years Borough milestone shines a light on its evolution from a health board to full local authority\u2014discover the history behind the celebration.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blackpool History\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-10T12:49:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-24T14:01:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1964-VV-Car-Rally-800x830-2.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"538\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ed\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#\/schema\/person\/6ba254dbcdf45d011efc9363cd4c2295\"},\"headline\":\"In 2026 Blackpool Celebrates 150 Years of Being a Borough\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-10T12:49:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-24T14:01:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/\"},\"wordCount\":294,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1964-VV-Car-Rally-800x830-2.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Events\",\"Government\",\"2026\"],\"articleSection\":[\"2026\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/\",\"name\":\"Blackpool Celebrates 150 Years as a Borough\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1964-VV-Car-Rally-800x830-2.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-10T12:49:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-24T14:01:19+00:00\",\"description\":\"Blackpool\u2019s 150 Years Borough milestone shines a light on its evolution from a health board to full local authority\u2014discover the history behind the celebration.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1964-VV-Car-Rally-800x830-2.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1964-VV-Car-Rally-800x830-2.webp\",\"width\":800,\"height\":538},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"In 2026 Blackpool Celebrates 150 Years of Being a Borough\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/\",\"name\":\"Blackpool Timeline\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Blackpool Timeline\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Blackpool-Timeline.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Blackpool-Timeline.png\",\"width\":8667,\"height\":1399,\"caption\":\"Blackpool Timeline\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#\/schema\/person\/6ba254dbcdf45d011efc9363cd4c2295\",\"name\":\"Ed\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/author\/deeperblue\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Blackpool Celebrates 150 Years as a Borough","description":"Blackpool\u2019s 150 Years Borough milestone shines a light on its evolution from a health board to full local authority\u2014discover the history behind the celebration.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"In 2026 Blackpool Celebrates 150 Years of Being a Borough","og_description":"Blackpool\u2019s 150 Years Borough milestone shines a light on its evolution from a health board to full local authority\u2014discover the history behind the celebration.","og_url":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/","og_site_name":"Blackpool History","article_published_time":"2025-09-10T12:49:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-24T14:01:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":538,"url":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1964-VV-Car-Rally-800x830-2.webp","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ed","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ed","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/"},"author":{"name":"Ed","@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#\/schema\/person\/6ba254dbcdf45d011efc9363cd4c2295"},"headline":"In 2026 Blackpool Celebrates 150 Years of Being a Borough","datePublished":"2025-09-10T12:49:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-24T14:01:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/"},"wordCount":294,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1964-VV-Car-Rally-800x830-2.webp","keywords":["Events","Government","2026"],"articleSection":["2026"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/","url":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/","name":"Blackpool Celebrates 150 Years as a Borough","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1964-VV-Car-Rally-800x830-2.webp","datePublished":"2025-09-10T12:49:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-24T14:01:19+00:00","description":"Blackpool\u2019s 150 Years Borough milestone shines a light on its evolution from a health board to full local authority\u2014discover the history behind the celebration.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1964-VV-Car-Rally-800x830-2.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1964-VV-Car-Rally-800x830-2.webp","width":800,"height":538},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/in-2026-blackpool-celebrates-150-years-of-being-a-borough\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"In 2026 Blackpool Celebrates 150 Years of Being a Borough"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/","name":"Blackpool Timeline","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#organization","name":"Blackpool Timeline","url":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Blackpool-Timeline.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Blackpool-Timeline.png","width":8667,"height":1399,"caption":"Blackpool Timeline"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/#\/schema\/person\/6ba254dbcdf45d011efc9363cd4c2295","name":"Ed","url":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/author\/deeperblue\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14243"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14378,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14243\/revisions\/14378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wearedeeperblue.co.uk\/history-clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}