 Borough status was conferred upon the new district of Nuneaton and Bedworth on 15 November 1976.In 2008, after 34 years of Labour Party control, the ruling Labour council lost to the Conservative Party, who gained the four seats needed to gain control; the BNP also gained two seats on the new council (their first ever seats in the borough), but lost one seat to the Labour Party in a by-election held in December 2009.The Labour Party won two seats from the Conservative Party in the 2010 local elections, leaving the council under no overall control, but led by the Labour group (as the largest party).