Districts of Preston have little administrative purpose: for local elections voters in each return either two, or three, councillors to Town Hall.
For the purposes of national General elections, the parliamentary constituencies representing the city use the electoral districts as "building bricks" The City of Preston is divided into 22 wards, which are used in the creation of "Area Forums", local consultative bodies organised by city council; and also the composition of parliamentary constituencies.
The wards are used to build electoral divisions for elections to Lancashire County Council.
All the other wards lie in an unparished area and are governed directly by Preston City Council.
The name "Preston" is associated with a number of different areas that are related to the city: Preston (unparished area),Cottam,Lea,Ingol,Grimsargh,Penwortham,Bamber Bridge,Walton-le-Dale,Clayton Brook,Whittle-le-Woods,Walton Summit,Farington,Lostock Hall,Tardy Gate PrestonLeyland,Chorley,Euxton,Wymott Prison