 In 1837, Heapey joined with other townships (or civil parishes) in the area to form the Chorley Poor Law Union, which took responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law in that area.Heapey is part of Chorley Borough, which has headquarters at the town hall in Chorley, and has a parish council.It is part of the Chorley parliamentary constituency, which elected Lindsay Hoyle as Member of Parliament for the Labour Party in the 2010 General Election.