Cambridge was an
ancient borough. Its date of being established as a borough is unknown, with its earliest known
charter dating from 1102. A subsequent charter issued by
King John in 1207 granted the borough the right to appoint a mayor. The earliest recorded mayor was Harvey FitzEustace, who served in 1213. The borough of Cambridge was reformed to become a
municipal borough in 1836 under the
Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised how boroughs operated across the country. It was then governed by a body formally called the 'Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Cambridge', generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council. Cambridge was granted city status on 21 March 1951 in recognition of its history, administrative importance, and economic success, allowing the council to call itself Cambridge City Council. The
Local Government Act 1972 reconstituted Cambridge as a
non-metropolitan district with effect from 1 April 1974; it kept the same boundaries and its city status, but there were changes to the council's responsibilities. The city of Cambridge is completely encircled by the neighbouring district of
South Cambridgeshire. The two authorities work together on some projects, such as the Greater Cambridge Local Plan. Since 2017 the city has been a constituent member of the
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, led by the directly-elected
Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. ==Governance==