Blaby is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. The district is named after the village of Blaby, although the council is based in Narborough. The district covers an area lying south-west of the city of Leicester. Several of the district's settlements form part of the wider Leicester Urban Area, including Glenfield, where Leicestershire County Council has its headquarters at County Hall, and the town of Braunstone.

The neighbouring districts are Hinckley and Bosworth, Charnwood, Leicester, Oadby and Wigston, Harborough and Rugby.

The district traces its origins to the Blaby Poor Law Union, which had been created in 1836. Although named after Blaby, the union built its workhouse in Enderby.^[2] In 1872 sanitary districts were established, giving public health and local government responsibilities for rural areas to the existing boards of guardians of poor law unions. In 1894 rural sanitary districts were redesignated as rural districts with their own councils, and so the Blaby Rural District came into being.^[3] At the same time, Wigston was removed from the district to become its own urban district.^[4] Oadby was subsequently also removed from the district in 1913 to become an urban district. In 1935 the district ceded some territory to Leicester and gained six parishes from the abolished Hinckley Rural District.^[5]

In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the area was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district called Blaby.^[6][7]

Blaby District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Leicestershire County Council. The whole district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.^[10][11]

In 1994 a new development called Thorpe Astley in the parish of Braunstone was started, being built over the course of 15 years. This totalled over 2,000 homes during the phased construction. The development in Lubbesthorpe, approved in January 2014, is located to land west of Thorpe Astley, divided by the M1.

Blaby District contains several well-known developments in the county, centred around junction 21 of the M1. The most prominent is Fosse Shopping Park, one of the busiest out-of-town shopping centers in the country. The Meridian Leisure Centre, constructed adjacent to and at the same time as the first phase of Thorpe Astley, is located in the district, including a Vue (formerly Warner Village) Cinema, Hollywood Bowl, Nandos, Frankie and Bennys, Chiquitos, Harvester, Pizza Hut and children's play centre.

Large Sainsbury's and Asda Superstores are also placed next to Fosse Park and the Junction 21 area. Business parks also adorn the gateway into Leicester; Grove Business Park's entrance is less than one mile from the motorway junction and is home to Mattioli Woods, British Gas, Topps Tiles and the Leicester Marriott Hotel. Meridian Business Park is next to both Thorpe Astley and the Meridian Leisure Centre, also houses several well-known businesses including Makro, Sytner, Samworth Brothers and Southern Fire and Rescue Station, the only such station located within the district.

The district contains 24 civil parishes. The parish council for Braunstone has declared its parish to be a town, allowing it to take the style "town council"; the area is often called "Braunstone Town" to distinguish it from the adjoining Braunstone estate which used to be in the parish but was transferred to Leicester in 1935. Some of the smaller parishes have a parish meeting rather than a parish council.^[24]