North Wiltshire MP, James Gray, has lent his support to the Campaign for Historic Counties this week. Britain’s Historic Counties date back almost 1,000 years, yet in the last 50, their continuing existence has been blurred and confused. The Local Government Act of 1888 introduced administrative counties, which gradually came into more use than the historic counties themselves.

Mr Gray stated

“The importance of historic counties should not be underestimated and give people a huge sense of local pride and identity. I was delighted to see the flag of Wiltshire with its iconic Bustard flying amongst the other county flags around Westminster Square this week. We in Wiltshire are very lucky that our county is still named and recognised, unlike those of Westmorland and Cumberland for example, which have been placed under local council areas.

The Campaign seeks to make clear what a county actually is: a geographical constant and unrelated to council areas, which will continue to function separately.”