Manchester

==Government==
{{Main|Politics in Manchester|Manchester City Council}}
{{See also|Manchester local elections|List of Lord Mayors of Manchester|Healthcare in Greater Manchester}}
[[File:Manchester Town Hall from Lloyd St.jpg|thumb|right|[[Manchester Town Hall]] in [[Albert Square, Manchester|Albert Square]], seat of local government, is an example of [[Victorian era]] [[Gothic revival]] architecture.]]
The City of Manchester is governed by the [[Manchester City Council]]. The [[Greater Manchester Combined Authority]], with a [[Mayor of Greater Manchester|directly elected mayor]], has responsibilities for economic strategy and transport, amongst other areas, on a Greater Manchester-wide basis. Manchester has been a member of the English [[Core Cities Group]] since its inception in 1995.<ref name="Core city">{{cite web |url=http://www.corecities.com/dev07/Introduction/about.html |title=About the Core Cities Group |access-date=9 July 2007 |publisher=English [[Core Cities Group]] |year=2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070919035621/http://www.corecities.com/dev07/Introduction/about.html |archive-date=19 September 2007}}</ref>

The town of Manchester was granted a charter by Thomas Grelley in 1301 but lost its [[borough status in the United Kingdom|borough status]] in a court case of 1359. Until the 19th century local government was largely in the hands of [[manorial court]]s, the last of which was dissolved in 1846.<ref name="GM Gazetteer"/>

From [[History of Lancashire|a very early time]], the [[Manchester Township (England)|township of Manchester]] lay within the [[historic counties of England|historic or ceremonial county boundaries]] of [[Lancashire]].<ref name="GM Gazetteer"/> [[Nikolaus Pevsner|Pevsner]] wrote "That [neighbouring] [[Stretford]] and [[Salford, Greater Manchester|Salford]] are not administratively one with Manchester is one of the most curious anomalies of England".<ref name="Flemish"/> A stroke of a baron's pen is said to have divorced Manchester and Salford, though it was not Salford that became separated from Manchester, it was Manchester, with its humbler line of lords, that was separated from Salford.<ref name="GM Evolution">{{cite book |title=Tradition in Action. The historical evolution of the Greater Manchester County |last=Frangopulo |first=Nicholas |year=1977 |publisher=EP Publishing |location=Wakefield |isbn=0-7158-1203-3}}</ref> It was this separation that resulted in Salford becoming the judicial seat of [[Salfordshire]], which included the [[Manchester (ancient parish)|ancient parish of Manchester]]. Manchester later formed its own [[Poor Law Union]] using the name "Manchester".<ref name="GM Gazetteer"/> In 1792, Commissioners – usually known as "Police Commissioners" – were established for the social improvement of Manchester. Manchester regained its borough status in 1838 and comprised the townships of [[Beswick, Greater Manchester|Beswick]], [[Cheetham Hill]], [[Chorlton upon Medlock]] and [[Hulme]].<ref name="GM Gazetteer"/> By 1846, with increasing population and greater industrialisation, the Borough Council had taken over the powers of the "Police Commissioners". In 1853, Manchester was granted [[city status in the United Kingdom|city status]].<ref name="GM Gazetteer"/>

In 1885, [[Bradford, Greater Manchester|Bradford]], [[Harpurhey]], [[Rusholme]] and parts of [[Moss Side]] and [[Withington]] townships became part of the City of Manchester. In 1889, the city became a [[county borough]], as did many larger Lancashire towns, and therefore not governed by [[Lancashire County Council]].<ref name="GM Gazetteer"/> Between 1890 and 1933, more areas were added to the city, which had been administered by Lancashire County Council, including former villages such as [[Burnage]], [[Chorlton-cum-Hardy]], [[Didsbury]], [[Fallowfield]], [[Levenshulme]], [[Longsight]], and [[Withington]]. In 1931, the [[Cheshire]] [[civil parishes in England|civil parishes]] of [[Baguley]], [[Northenden]] and [[Northen Etchells]] from the south of the [[River Mersey]] were added.<ref name="GM Gazetteer"/> In 1974, by way of the [[Local Government Act 1972]], the City of Manchester became a [[metropolitan district]] of the [[metropolitan county]] of [[Greater Manchester]].<ref name="GM Gazetteer"/> That year, [[Ringway, Greater Manchester|Ringway]], the village where the [[Manchester Airport]] is located, was added to the city.

In November 2014, it was announced that Greater Manchester would receive a new directly elected mayor. The mayor would have fiscal control over health, transport, housing and police in the area.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/16/northern-powerhouse-perils-devolution-mixed-blessing |title=Perils of the 'Northern Powerhouse': is devolution a mixed blessing |author=Phillip Inman |date=16 May 2015 |access-date=17 May 2015 |work=[[The Guardian]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527051514/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/16/northern-powerhouse-perils-devolution-mixed-blessing |archive-date=27 May 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Andy Burnham]] was elected as the first mayor of Greater Manchester in [[2017 Greater Manchester mayoral election|2017]].