West Midlands County Council

West Midlands County Council
Coat of arms
Logo
Type
Type	Metropolitan county council
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

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

County Hall, 1 Lancaster Circus, Birmingham: Council's headquarters

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

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 as follows: ^[7]

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

Leadership

The leaders of the council were:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Stan Yapp [3] [8]		Labour	1 Apr 1974	May 1977
John Taylor [9] [10]		Conservative	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

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

Year	Conservative	Labour	Liberal	Other
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]

See also

• West Midlands Combined Authority
• West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive

References

1. "Local Government Reorganisation (Pensions)". Hansard. 25 February 1986. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
2. Local Elections Handbook pp. 2–3
3. Vertigen, Brian (1 May 1973). "Metro Council promise to Liberals over committee seats". Birmingham Post. p. 16. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
4. "Big rate rise rally". Birmingham Mail. 13 May 1985. p. 5. Retrieved 12 July 2025. ...the annual meeting of the West Midlands County Council at Birmingham Council House.
5. "No. 49121". The London Gazette . 27 September 1982. p. 12502.
6. Jones, Tamlyn (25 April 2023). "Investor reveals plans for former Birmingham council offices". Business Live. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
7. "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 21 May 2025. (Put "West Midlands" in search box to see specific results.)
8. "Labour in vote for new chief". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 9 May 1977. p. 25. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
9. Evans, John (19 May 1977). "Whizz-kid who took Tories to the top". Coventry Evening Telegraph. p. 23. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
10. Harrabin, Roger (9 July 1979). "County chief quits for top Euro post". Coventry Evening Telegraph. p. 9. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
11. Harrabin, Roger (28 July 1979). "City man new county Tory leader". Coventry Evening Telegraph. p. 1. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
12. "County's leader dies". Birmingham Mail. 28 June 1980. p. 2. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
13. "Tories choose new county council leader". Wolverhampton Express and Star. 12 July 1980. p. 17. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
14. "Backlash! Labour sweeps to power". Wolverhampton Express and Star. 8 May 1981. p. 1. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
15. Hudson, Nick (13 May 1981). "Hard Labour for Tories". Sandwell Evening Mail. West Bromwich. p. 25. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
16. Bell, David (1 April 1986). "What a shame about those handouts". Sandwell Evening Mail. West Bromwich. p. 6. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
17. "Tributes to Cradley Heath politician". Halesowen News. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
18. "Local Government (Interim Provisions) Act 1984: Section 2", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1984 c. 53 (s. 2), retrieved 10 September 2022