Product Code Database
Example Keywords: smartphones -playstation $56
   » » Wiki: Walsall Council
Tag Wiki 'Walsall Council'.
Tag

Walsall Council, formally Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands, England. The town of had been a borough from medieval times, which was reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 the council has been a metropolitan borough council. It provides the majority of local government services in the borough. The council has been a member of the West Midlands Combined Authority since 2016.

The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2019. The council meets at Walsall Council House and has its main offices at the adjoining Civic Centre.


History
The town of Walsall was an . It also had a mayor from at least 1377. The town's claim to be a borough was not supported by a charter, leading to disputes with the lord of the manor. A formal charter was eventually issued in 1627. The borough was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country. It was then governed by a body formally called the 'mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Walsall', generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council.

When elected county councils were established in 1889, Walsall was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services, and so it became a , independent from the new Staffordshire County Council, whilst remaining part of the geographical county of . The borough was enlarged in 1966 to take in and .

The modern metropolitan borough and its council were established in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, as one of seven boroughs in the new metropolitan county of the West Midlands. The new borough covered the combined area of the old county borough of Walsall plus the neighbouring Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District. The metropolitan district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Walsall's series of mayors dating back to the fourteenth century. The council styles itself Walsall Council rather than its full formal name of Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council.

From 1974 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the West Midlands County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to the county's seven borough councils, including Walsall, with some services provided through joint committees.

Since 2016 the council has been a member of the West Midlands Combined Authority, which has been led by the directly elected Mayor of the West Midlands since 2017. The combined authority provides strategic leadership and co-ordination for certain functions across the county, but Walsall Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions.


Governance
Walsall Council provides metropolitan borough services. Some strategic functions in the area are provided by the West Midlands Combined Authority; the council appoints two of its councillors to sit on the board of the combined authority as Walsall's representatives. There are no in the borough.


Political control
The Conservatives have held a majority of the seats on the council since 2019.

Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: (Put "Walsall" in search box to see specific results.)

1974–1976
1976–1980
1980–1982
1982–1988
1988–1992
1992–1995
1995–1996
1996–1999
1999–2000
2000–2004
2004–2011
2011–2019
2019–present


Leadership
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Walsall. Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1980 have been:

May 1982
May 1986
17 Jun 1988
Apr 1990
May 1992
May 1995
12 Dec 1995
22 Jan 1996
29 Nov 1998
May 1999
May 2000
Oct 2001
May 2007
May 2009
11 Aug 2014
3 Jun 2015
25 May 2016
23 May 2018
8 May 2024
3 Jun 2024
21 May 2025


Composition
Following the 2024 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to July 2025, the composition of the council was:

37
13
10
Eight of the independent councillors sit together as a group. The next election is due in May 2026.


Premises
The council meets at the Council House on Lichfield Street, which had been completed in 1905 for the old borough council. It replaced the earlier Guildhall on High Street, which had been built in 1867 on a site which had been occupied by the town's guildhall from the fifteenth century. The council's main offices are in the Civic Centre on Darwall Street, which is linked to the Council House by a bridge over Darwall Street.


Elections
Since the last boundary changes in 2004, the council has comprised 60 representing 20 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) being elected each time for a four-year term of office.


Wards
The wards are:

Aldridge Central and South10.73
Aldridge North and Walsall Wood16.43
Bentley and Darlaston North31.19
Birchills Leamore33.05
33.86
29.99
38.15
17.45
36.64
Paddock23.92
39.71
28.74
Pheasey Park Farm13.76
31.53
Rushall-20.37
Short Heath30.05
St. Matthew's34.64
17.66
53.41
28.70
Total24.39


Notes

External links

Page 1 of 1
1
Page 1 of 1
1

Account

Social:
Pages:  ..   .. 
Items:  .. 

Navigation

General: Atom Feed Atom Feed  .. 
Help:  ..   .. 
Category:  ..   .. 
Media:  ..   .. 
Posts:  ..   ..   .. 

Statistics

Page:  .. 
Summary:  .. 
1 Tags
10/10 Page Rank
5 Page Refs