England’s smallest county to be wiped off map for good under historic shake-up

Brooke Davies | Senior News reporter Published July 18, 2026 1:10pm Updated July 18, 2026 1:10pm Rutland County Council will be abolished and replaced by a larger local authority stretching around Leicester (Picture: Google Maps) England’s smallest county is set to disappear off the map forever under the biggest government shake-up in 50 years. Rutland County Council will be abolished and replaced by a larger local authority stretching around Leicester. It comes as ministers redraw council boundaries as part of wider reforms affecting 15 million people across England. Local Government Secretary Steve Reed said: ‘We need to devolve power out of Whitehall so that we can rebalance wealth, power and opportunity right across this country.’ The government has set out a target to have councils se