Hartlepool
| Borough of Hartlepool | |
|---|---|
| |
| Geography | |
| Status: | Unitary, borough |
| Region: | North East England |
| Ceremonial County: | Durham |
| Area: - Total |
Ranked 251st 93.86 km² |
| Admin. HQ: | Hartlepool |
| ONS code: | 00EB |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total (2002 est.) - Density |
Ranked 257th 88,237 940 / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 98.8% White |
| Politics | |
| Hartlepool Borough Council http://www.hartlepool.gov.uk/ | |
| Leadership: | Mayor & Cabinet |
| Mayor: | Stuart Drummond (Independent) |
| MP: | (vacant, was Peter Mandelson until September 8, 2004) |
Hartlepool is a North Sea port in North East England. It is part of the traditional county of Durham, and, in 1974, formed part of the new metropolitan county of Cleveland. After the abolition of Cleveland, it was placed in the ceremonial county of Durham, but is governed by a unitary authority.
It was founded as a village in the 7th century AD, springing up around a nearby monastery. By the start of the nineteenth century it still had a population of only a thousand, but it boomed during the industrial revolution and in 2001 had a resident population of 88,611.
Hartlepool is famous for executing a monkey, the sole survivor of a shipwreck, during the Napoleonic Wars. Not knowing what a Frenchman looked like, and with the monkey unable to defend himself against accusations of spying, they hanged the monkey.
In accordance with this legend, the mascot of Hartlepool United F.C. is H'Angus the monkey, real name Stuart Drummond, who in 2002 became the first directly-elected Mayor of Hartlepool. He campaigned on a platform which included free bananas for schoolchildren.
The Hartlepool constituency was represented in the House of Commons until summer 2004 by Labour MP, Peter Mandelson.
Mr Mandelson has resigned to take up a role in the European Commission. There will be a by-election to fill the seat on September 30.
External link
- Statistics about Hartlepool from the Office of National Statistics Census 2001
