Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council was created in 1974 to administer the newly formed Metropolitan Borough of Walsall

Metropolitan Borough of Walsall

The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall is a local government district in the Black Country part of the West Midlands, England, with the status of a metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Walsall, but covers a larger area which also includes the towns of Aldridge, Brownhills,...

.

The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall is based on an amalgamation

Amalgamation (politics)

A merger or amalgamation in a political or administrative sense is the combination of two or more political or administrative entities such as municipalities , counties, districts, etc. into a single entity. This term is used when the process occurs within a sovereign entity...

 of two former local government districts, Walsall County Borough

Walsall

Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...

 and Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District. Both areas had previously seen major changes in 1966, with Walsall County Borough being expanded to cover areas formerly administered by the Municipal Borough

Municipal borough

Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...

s of Bilston

Bilston

Bilston is a town in the English county of West Midlands, situated in the southeastern corner of the City of Wolverhampton. Three wards of Wolverhampton City Council cover the town: Bilston East and Bilston North, which almost entirely comprise parts of the historic Borough of Bilston, and...

 and Wednesbury

Wednesbury

Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. Similarly to the word Wednesday, it is pronounced .-Pre-Medieval and Medieval times:...

, as well as the Urban District

Urban district

In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....

s of Coseley

Coseley

Coseley is a town located mostly within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the English West Midlands. Part of the Black Country, it lies south east of Wolverhampton and north of Dudley....

, Darlaston

Darlaston

Darlaston is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England.-History:Archaeological evidence of the history of Darlaston has been destroyed by The de Darlaston family owned Darlaston and lived in the manor between the 12th century and 15th century. When the de...

, Willenhall

Willenhall

Willenhall is a town in the Black Country area of the West Midlands of England, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is situated between Wolverhampton and Walsall, historically in the county of Staffordshire...

 and Wednesfield

Wednesfield

Wednesfield lies at , and is located to the northeast of Wolverhampton city centre on the northern fringe of the West Midlands conurbation...

. However, in all cases only parts of those areas were transferred into the County Borough, with other areas being moved into different authorities. Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District was created from the majority of the former Urban Districts of Aldridge

Aldridge

Aldridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands, England. Historically it was part of the county of Staffordshire, but in 1974 it was incorporated into the Walsall borough as well as the West Midlands county.- History :...

 and Brownhills

Brownhills

Brownhills is a town in the West Midlands, England. Located on the edge of Cannock Chase near the large artificial lake Chasewater, it is north-east of Walsall and a similar distance south-west of Lichfield. It is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and the Aldridge-Brownhills...

, along with some smaller areas from other local authorities.

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council was assessed by the Audit Commission

Audit Commission

The Audit Commission is a public corporation in the United Kingdom.The Commission’s primary objective is to improve economy, efficiency and effectiveness in local government, housing and the health service, directly through the audit and inspection process and also through value for money...

 in 2008 and judged to be "improving well" in providing services for local people. Overall the council was awarded "three star" status meaning it was "performing well" and "consistently above minimum requirements", similar to 46% of all local authorities.

The council offices are located at the Civic Centre in the heart of Walsall

Walsall

Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...

. Elections to the council

Walsall local elections

One third of Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands, England is elected each year, followed by one year without election. Since the last boundary changes in 2004, 60 councillors have been elected from 20 wards.-Political control:...

 take place in three out of every four years, with one-third of the seats being contested at each election. Between its formation in 1974 and the 2003 election

Walsall Council election, 2003

The 2003 Walsall Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands, England...

, the council varied between control by the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

, and where no one party had an overall majority. From 2003 to the 2011 election

Walsall Council election, 2011

The 2011 Walsall Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands, England...

 the Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 then held a majority of councillors. However in 2011 Labour made eight gains, including 5 from the Conservatives and as a result the council came under no overall control

No overall control

Within the context of local councils of the United Kingdom, the term No Overall Control refers to a situation in which no single party achieves a majority of seats and is analogous to a hung parliament...

, with the Conservatives continuing as a minority administration.

Party political make-up of Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council

	Party	Seats		2011 Council
		2010	2011
	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	33	28
	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	18	26
	Lib Dems	6	5
	Other	3	1

Electoral wards

The Metropolitan Borough Council has 60 local councillors representing 20 wards. The wards are:

Ward name	Area (ha Hectare The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2... )/mi2	Population (2001 census)	Population density (people per hectare)	Ref.
Aldridge Central and South	1143 hectares (4.4 sq mi)	12,267	10.73
Aldridge North and Walsall Wood	784 hectares (3 sq mi)	12,874	16.43
Bentley and Darlaston North	439 hectares (1.7 sq mi)	13,689	31.19
Birchills Leamore	413 hectares (1.6 sq mi)	13,659	33.05
Blakenall	353 hectares (1.4 sq mi)	11,950	33.86
Bloxwich East	369 hectares (1.4 sq mi)	11,072	29.99
Bloxwich West	388 hectares (1.5 sq mi)	14,816	38.15
Brownhills Brownhills Brownhills is a town in the West Midlands, England. Located on the edge of Cannock Chase near the large artificial lake Chasewater, it is north-east of Walsall and a similar distance south-west of Lichfield. It is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and the Aldridge-Brownhills...	724 hectares (2.8 sq mi)	12,637	17.45
Darlaston South	334 hectares (1.3 sq mi)	12,252	36.64
Paddock	546 hectares (2.1 sq mi)	13,073	23.92
Palfrey Palfrey A palfrey is a type of horse highly valued as a riding horse in the Middle Ages. It is not a breed.The word "palfrey" is cognate with the German word for horse , "Pferd". Both descend from Latin "paraveredus", meaning a post horse or courier horse...	368 hectares (1.4 sq mi)	14,596	39.71
Pelsall Pelsall Pelsall is an area of Walsall in the West Midlands, England. It is part of the Parliamentary Constituency of Aldridge-Brownhills.- History :Pelsall was first mentioned in a charter of 994, when it was amongst various lands given to the monastery at Heantune by Wulfrun, a Mercian noblewoman...	499 hectares (1.9 sq mi)	14,344	28.74
Pheasey Park Farm	758 hectares (2.9 sq mi)	10,435	13.76
Pleck Pleck Pleck in the borough of Walsall neighbours Palfrey and stretches from the bridge on Wednesbury Road to Junction 9 of the M6 motorway. It consists of a large green space called Pleck Park and housing estates....	338 hectares (1.3 sq mi)	10,653	31.53
Rushall Rushall Rushall may refer to:*Rushall, Herefordshire, England*Rushall, Norfolk, England*Rushall, West Midlands, England**Rushall railway station, West Midlands, England*Rushall, Wiltshire, England*Rushall railway station, Melbourne, Australia... -Shelfield Shelfield Shelfield is a small village to the north of Walsall in the West Midlands conurbation.The name Shelfield derives from the Anglo Saxon Skelfeld for sloping ground or field -Education:...	577 hectares (2.2 sq mi)	11,754	20.37
Short Heath Short Heath Short Heath is the name of these places in England:*Short Heath, Derbyshire*Short Heath, Birmingham*Short Heath, Willenhall...	380 hectares (1.5 sq mi)	11,435	30.05
St. Matthew's	353 hectares (1.4 sq mi)	12,214	34.64
Streetly Streetly Streetly is an area which lies mainly in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, England around 8 miles to the north of Birmingham. Streetly lies on the border of Birmingham and Walsall and is part of the West Midlands conurbation. It is adjacent to Aldridge, Sutton Coldfield, Great Barr and Four...	750 hectares (2.9 sq mi)	13,251	17.66
Willenhall North	235 hectare (0.907340072692457 sq mi)	12,536	53.41
Willenhall South	481 hectares (1.9 sq mi)	13,795	28.70
Total	10396 hectares (40.1 sq mi)	253,499	24.39