Commissioners (1803–1852) Worthing was historically a
hamlet in the
ancient parish of
Broadwater. Until 1803 it was administered by the Broadwater parish
vestry, in the same way as most rural areas. Worthing's first form of urban local government was a body of
improvement commissioners, established in 1803 with responsibility for street paving and lighting, sewerage and policing. The first chairman of the commissioners was
Timothy Shelley. The commissioners' responsibilities were gradually expanded by subsequent Acts of Parliament. The commissioners initially met at hotels in the town until 1835 when they built Worthing's first town hall at the northern end of South Street. A separate body of improvement commissioners was established in 1865 covering
West Worthing, which was being developed as a new town in the neighbouring parish of
Heene.
Municipal borough (1890–1974) In 1890 Worthing and West Worthing were merged and incorporated as a
municipal borough called Worthing. The borough was governed by a body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Worthing", generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council. The first mayor was Alfred Cortis. The
Labour Party first put up candidates in Worthing in 1919, and its first councillor, Charles Barber, was elected in 1922. Worthing was the first town in the UK to establish a branch of the
Middle Class Union, which in Worthing was largely made up of retired army personnel. An MCU candidate, Colonel Connolly, was elected in 1921. The elections of Connolly and Barber brought about an end to the tradition in Worthing of non-party participation in elections. In 1933, Charles Bentinck Budd, who had been elected as an
independent councillor to both Worthing Borough Council and West Sussex County Council in 1930, joined the
British Union of Fascists. He was subsequently re-elected to the borough council in the 1933 elections, and the national press reported that Worthing was the first town in the country to elect a fascist councillor. Over the next few months tensions rose, culminating on 9 October 1934 when
anti-fascist protesters met outside a blackshirt rally at the
Pavilion Theatre, in what became known as the
Battle of South Street. Between 1933 and 1939 the Worthing Corporation purchased of downland to the north of Worthing, which forms the
Worthing Downland Estate. Worthing retained its borough status, allowing the chair of the reformed council to take the title of mayor, continuing Worthing's series of mayors dating back to 1890. Since 2008 Worthing Borough Council has worked in partnership with
Adur District Council, as
Adur and Worthing Councils, sharing a joint management structure, with a single Chief Executive. In 2014 the council also became a constituent member of the
Greater Brighton City Region. On 18 July 2019, Worthing Borough Council declared a
climate emergency, which aims to see the council become
carbon-neutral by 2030. ==Governance==