West Midlands County Council

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West Midlands County Council

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

West Midlands County Council
Coat of arms
Type
Type	County council of West Midlands
History
Established	1 April 1974
Disbanded	31 March 1986
Succeeded by	Various agencies
Seats	104
Elections
Last election	1981
Meeting place

Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham

West Midlands County Council (WMCC) was, from 1974 to 1986, the upper-tier administrative body for the West Midlands county, a metropolitan county in England.

History

[edit]

The WMCC existed for a total of twelve years. It was established on 1 April 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972 and was abolished on 31 March 1986. It was abolished along with five other metropolitan county councils and the Greater London Council by the government of Margaret Thatcher under the Local Government Act 1985.^[1]

The WMCC was a strategic authority running regional services such as transport, emergency services, and strategic planning. Elections were held to the council in 1973, 1977 and 1981. Elections were due to be held in 1985 but were cancelled due to the council's impending abolition. The Labour Party controlled the council from 1974 to 1977, with the Conservatives controlling it 1977–81. It reverted to Labour control for the last term 1981–86.^[2]

Premises

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The first meeting of the shadow authority was held on 30 April 1973 at Council House, Birmingham.^[3] Meetings were held at Council House throughout the county council's existence.^[4] The county council established its main administrative offices at County Hall, 1 Lancaster Circus, in central Birmingham. After the county council's abolition in 1986, County Hall was occupied, but not as its headquarters, by Birmingham City Council,^[5] until it was sold in 2022 to private investors.^[6]

Political control

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The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 1986 was held by the following parties:^[7]

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1974–1977
	Conservative	1977–1981
	Labour	1981–1986

Leadership

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The leaders of the council were:

Councillor		From	To
Stan Yapp^[3]^[8]	Labour	1 Apr 1974	8 May 1977
John Taylor^[9]^[10]	Conservative	23 May 1977	Jul 1979
Gilbert Richards^[11]^[12]	Conservative	Jul 1979	27 Jun 1980
Alan Hope^[13]^[14]	Conservative	Jul 1980	May 1981
Gordon Morgan^[15]^[16]^[17]	Labour	May 1981	31 Mar 1986

Council elections

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Elections were held to the West Midlands County Council three times, in 1973, 1977, and 1981.^[7]

Year	Conservative	Labour	Liberal	Other
Year
1973	27	73	4	0
1977	82	18	3	1
1981	25	74	5	0

Elections were due to be held in 1985 but these were cancelled due to the council's impending abolition. Those councillors elected in 1981 had their terms of office extended until the council's abolition on 31 March 1986.^[18]

References

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^ "Local Government Reorganisation (Pensions)". Hansard. 25 February 1986. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
^ Local Elections Handbook pp. 2–3
^ ^a ^b Vertigen, Brian (1 May 1973). "Metro Council promise to Liberals over committee seats". Birmingham Post. p. 16. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
^ "Big rate rise rally". Birmingham Mail. 13 May 1985. p. 5. Retrieved 10 September 2022. ...the annual meeting of the West Midlands County Council at Birmingham Council House.
^ "No. 49121". The London Gazette. 27 September 1982. p. 12502.
^ Jones, Tamlyn (25 April 2023). "Investor reveals plans for former Birmingham council offices". Business Live. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
^ "Labour in vote for new chief". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 9 May 1977. p. 25. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
^ Evans, John (19 May 1977). "Whizz-kid who took Tories to the top". Coventry Evening Telegraph. p. 23. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
^ "Shops check attack on Metro Tories". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 24 May 1977. p. 20. Retrieved 10 September 2022. ...at last night's annual county council meeting...
^ Harrabin, Roger (28 July 1979). "City man new county Tory leader". Coventry Evening Telegraph. p. 1. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
^ "County's leader dies". Birmingham Mail. 28 June 1980. p. 2. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
^ Shaw, David; Bell, David (12 July 1980). "Town Hall pay storm No. 2". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
^ Rotheroe, Maurice (30 April 1981). "Battle lines drawn in the bid for revenge". Sandwell Evening Mail. West Bromwich. p. 14. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
^ Hudson, Nick (13 May 1981). "Hard Labour for Tories". Sandwell Evening Mail. West Bromwich. p. 25. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
^ Jacobs, Bill (26 March 1986). "Doomed council's wake on the rates". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
^ "Tributes to Cradley Heath politician". Halesowen News. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
^ "Local Government (Interim Provisions) Act 1984: Section 2", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1984 c. 53 (s. 2), retrieved 10 September 2022

v t e Ceremonial county of West Midlands
Metropolitan districts	City of Birmingham City of Coventry Metropolitan Borough of Dudley Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough of Solihull Metropolitan Borough of Walsall City of Wolverhampton
Major settlements (cities in italics)	Aldridge Bilston Birmingham Blackheath Bloxwich Bournville Brierley Hill Brownhills Chelmsley Wood Coseley Coventry Cradley Heath Darlaston Dorridge Dudley Edgbaston Erdington Gornal Halesowen Kingswinford Knowle Longbridge Netherton Oldbury Pelsall Pensnett Quarry Bank Rowley Regis Sedgley Selly Oak Shirley Smethwick Solihull Stourbridge Streetly Sutton Coldfield Tipton Tividale Walsall Wednesbury Wednesfield West Bromwich Willenhall Wolverhampton Wordsley See also: West Midlands
Rivers	River Blythe River Cole River Penk River Rea Saredon Brook Smestow Brook River Sherbourne River Sow River Sowe River Stour River Tame
Canals	Birmingham Canal Navigations Shropshire Union Canal Staffordshire & Worcestershire Worcester & Birmingham
Topics	Places Population of major settlements Parliamentary constituencies SSSIs Country houses Grade I listed buildings Grade II* listed buildings Scheduled monuments Conservation areas History Lord Lieutenants High Sheriffs Museums Black Country Birmingham Airport Coventry/Bedworth Urban Area Transport for West Midlands West Midlands conurbation West Midlands Combined Authority Mayor of the West Midlands West Midlands Police

Former county councils of England

Pre-1974

Post-1974

Metropolitan	Greater Manchester Merseyside South Yorkshire Tyne and Wear West Midlands West Yorkshire

Non-metropolitan	Avon Bedfordshire Berkshire Buckinghamshire Cheshire Cleveland Cumbria Dorset Hereford and Worcester Humberside Northamptonshire

v t e Council elections in the West Midlands
Birmingham	1873 1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2022
Coventry	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Dudley	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Sandwell	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Solihull	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Walsall	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Wolverhampton	1973 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
West Midlands County Council	1973 1977 1981 Abolished
Mayor	2017 2021 2024
See also: Wards Boundary changes

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History

Premises

Political control

Leadership

Council elections

See also

References