It included the towns of Bollington, Knutsford, Macclesfield and Wilmslow and within its wider area the villages and hamlets of Adlington, Disley, Gawsworth, Kerridge, Pott Shrigley, Poynton, Prestbury, Rainow, Styal, Sutton and Tytherington.

The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chairman of the council to take the title of mayor.

[3] The borough contained 52 civil parishes and 2 discrete unparished areas (namely, the towns of Macclesfield and Wilmslow).

[5] The first elections to the new Macclesfield Borough created under the Local Government Act 1972 were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974.

The political composition of the council at its abolition in 2009 was: The following is a list of people who have been either an Alderman or Freeman of the borough of Macclesfield, and when the title was bestowed.