Editing West Midlands (county) (section)

==History==
{{main|History of the West Midlands}} {{see also|History of Birmingham|History of Coventry}}

Although the modern county has only existed since 1974, the settlements of the West Midlands have long been important centres of commerce and industry as well as developing a good local infrastructure. Coventry was one of England's most important cities during the [[Middle Ages]], with its prosperity built upon wool and cloth manufacture. Birmingham and Wolverhampton have a tradition of industry dating back to the 16th century, when small metal-working industries developed. Birmingham was known for its manufacture of [[small arms]], whereas Wolverhampton became a centre of lock manufacture and brass working. The coal and iron ore deposits of the [[Black Country]] area provided a ready source of raw materials. The area grew rapidly during the [[Industrial Revolution]], and by the 20th century had grown into one large conurbation. Coventry was slower to develop, but by the early 20th century it had become an important centre of bicycle and car manufacture.

1966 saw a substantial reform in the local government of the area as the patchwork of [[County Borough|county boroughs]] with [[municipal borough]]s and [[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|urban district councils]] in between was replaced by a core of county boroughs covering a contiguous area, roughly as follows:
*[[Birmingham]], which remained substantially unaltered
*[[Dudley]], which absorbed all [[Brierley Hill]], most of [[Coseley]] and [[Sedgley]], and part of [[Amblecote]], [[Tipton]] and [[Rowley Regis]]
*[[Solihull]], which remained substantially unaltered
*[[Walsall]], which absorbed all [[Darlaston]], most of [[Willenhall]], and parts of [[Wednesbury]], [[Coseley]], [[Wednesfield]] and [[Bilston]]
*[[County Borough of Warley|Warley]], which was created by amalgamating most of [[Smethwick]], [[Oldbury, West Midlands|Oldbury]] and [[Rowley Regis]], and parts of Dudley, Tipton, West Bromwich and [[Halesowen]]
*[[West Bromwich]], which absorbed most of Wednesbury and Tipton, and parts of [[Bilston]], Oldbury, [[Smethwick]] and Walsall
*[[Wolverhampton]], which absorbed most of [[Bilston]], [[Wednesfield]] and [[Tettenhall]], and parts of Sedgley, Coseley and Willenhall

Near the area, three other towns remained separate ([[Halesowen]], [[Stourbridge]] and [[Sutton Coldfield]]), while [[Aldridge]] and [[Brownhills]] joined to form a single unit, called [[Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District|Aldridge-Brownhills]]. In the same year, a single [[West Midlands Constabulary]] was formed for the Black Country county boroughs, whilst Birmingham retained its [[Birmingham City Police]] and Solihull continued being policed by the [[Warwickshire Constabulary]]. The [[Transport for West Midlands|West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority]] was established in 1968.

===County creation===
In 1974, the [[Local Government Act 1972]] came into effect, creating the metropolitan county of West Midlands. This area was based on the seven county boroughs and the other non-county boroughs and urban districts around the fringe of the conurbation.

The new area consisted of seven new metropolitan boroughs, with [[Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District|Aldridge-Brownhills]] added to [[Walsall]]; Halesowen and Stourbridge to Dudley and Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham. A new borough of [[Sandwell]] was formed by the merger of West Bromwich and Warley. The actual designation of Warley itself was abolished and the three towns of Smethwick, Oldbury and Rowley Regis reinstated as component parts of Sandwell, although these areas formed the Warley postal district. Solihull took in much of the suburban fringe to the east of Birmingham, including the former villages of [[Chelmsley Wood]] and [[Castle Bromwich]], also [[Birmingham Airport]], and the area of countryside between Solihull and Coventry, whilst Coventry itself received only small changes and Wolverhampton was unaltered. This led to (apart from in the east, with Coventry and the Meriden Gap) quite a tightly defined metropolitan border, excluding such places as [[Burntwood]], [[Bromsgrove]], [[Cannock]], [[Kidderminster]], [[Lichfield]] and [[Wombourne]] which had been considered for inclusion in the West Midlands metropolitan area by the [[Redcliffe-Maud Report]].

The 1974 reform created the [[West Midlands County Council]] that covered the entire area and dealt with strategic issues. A new [[West Midlands Police]] service was formed covering the entire area, with the West Midlands Constabulary and Birmingham City Police abolished, and also taking over responsibility from the county forces.

West Midlands was also established as a new [[ceremonial county]], with the offices of [[Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands|Lord Lieutenant]] and [[High Sheriff of the West Midlands|High Sheriff]] created. Its constituent components had previously been, for ceremonial purposes, under the equivalent offices of [[Warwickshire]] ([[Birmingham]] [[County borough|CB]], [[Coventry]] CB, [[Solihull]] CB, [[Sutton Coldfield]] [[Municipal borough|MB]] and [[Meriden Rural District|Meriden]] [[Rural district|RD]]), [[Staffordshire]] ([[Wolverhampton]] CB, [[Walsall]] CB, [[West Bromwich]] CB, [[Dudley]] CB and Aldridge-Brownhills [[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|UD]]) and [[Worcestershire]] ([[County Borough of Warley|Warley]] CB, [[Stourbridge]] MB and [[Halesowen]] MB).

{|class="wikitable" style="border:0px;text-align:left;line-height:150%;"
! colspan="2" |[[Local Government Act 1972|post-1974]]
! colspan="4" |[[Local Government Act 1888|pre-1974]]
|-
! Metropolitan county
! Metropolitan borough
! [[County boroughs]]
! [[Municipal borough|Non-county boroughs]]
! [[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|Urban districts]]
! [[Rural district]]s
|-
|rowspan=7|[[File:West Midlands County.png|400px]]<br />{{center|West Midlands is an amalgamation of 14 former local government districts, including eight county boroughs.}}
|[[Birmingham]]
|Birmingham
|[[Sutton Coldfield]]
|–
|–
|-
|[[City of Coventry|Coventry]]
|[[County Borough of Coventry|Coventry]]
|–
|–
|[[Meriden Rural District|Meriden]] ''(part)''<ref name=Whitaker1974>{{cite book |title=Whitaker's Almanack 1974, complete edition |edition=106th |year=1973 |orig-date=1868 |publisher=J. Whitaker & Sons |location=London |isbn=0-85021-067-4 |page=672 }}</ref>
|-
|[[Metropolitan Borough of Dudley|Dudley]]
|[[County Borough of Dudley|Dudley]]
|{{ubl|[[Halesowen]]|[[Stourbridge]]}}
|–
|–
|-
|[[Sandwell]]
|{{ubl|[[County Borough of Warley|Warley]]|[[County Borough of West Bromwich|West Bromwich]]}}
|–
|–
|–
|-
|[[Metropolitan Borough of Solihull|Solihull]]
|[[County Borough of Solihull|Solihull]]
|–
|–
|{{ubl|[[Meriden Rural District|Meriden]] ''(part)''<ref name=Whitaker1974 />|[[Stratford-on-Avon District|Stratford-on-Avon]] ''(part)''<ref name=Whitaker1974 />}}
|-
|[[Metropolitan Borough of Walsall|Walsall]]
|[[County Borough of Walsall|Walsall]]
|–
|[[Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District|Aldridge-Brownhills]]
|
|-
|[[Wolverhampton]]
|Wolverhampton
|–
|–
|–
|-
|}

===West Midlands County Council===
[[File:Arms_of_West_Midlands_Metropolitan_County_Council.svg|thumb|right|The arms of the [[West Midlands County Council]], depicted here, became redundant with the abolition of the council in 1986 (though similar arms are used by the [[West Midlands Fire Service]]).]]

Between 1974 and 1986, the county had a two-tier system of local government, and the seven districts shared power with the [[West Midlands County Council]]. However, the [[Local Government Act 1985]] abolished the metropolitan county councils, and the West Midlands County Council ceased to exist in 1986. Most of its functions were devolved to the West Midland boroughs, which effectively became [[unitary authority|unitary authorities]], with responsibility for most local authority functions.

Following the abolition of the county council, some county-wide bodies continued to exist, which were administered by various joint-boards of the seven districts, among these were the [[West Midlands Police]], the [[West Midlands Fire Service]] and the [[West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive]].

===Boundary changes===
In 1994, the western/southern shores of [[Chasewater]], plus the adjacent Jeffreys Swag, were transferred from the [[Metropolitan Borough of Walsall]] to the [[Lichfield (district)|District of Lichfield]], [[Staffordshire]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1993/Uksi_19930492_en_1.htm |title=The Hereford and Worcester, Staffordshire and West Midlands (County and Metropolitan Borough Boundaries) Order 1993 |publisher=Office of Public Sector Information |date=20 September 2000 |access-date=20 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080121090113/http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1993/Uksi_19930492_en_1.htm |archive-date=21 January 2008 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Further boundary changes came into effect in 1995, when part of the [[Hereford and Worcester]] parish of [[Frankley]] (including the south-west part of [[Bartley Reservoir]]) was transferred to Birmingham and became part of the county.

===West Midlands Combined Authority===
On 17 June 2016, a new administrative body, the [[West Midlands Combined Authority]] was created for the county, under the [[Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009]], which created several other [[Combined authority|combined authorities]] in England. The new body has powers over transport, economic development, skills and planning. A new directly elected position of [[Mayor of the West Midlands]] was created in 2017 to chair the new body.<ref>{{cite web|title=All systems go for West Midlands Combined Authority as MPs say 'Yes'|url=http://www.thechamberlainfiles.com/all-systems-go-for-west-midlands-combined-authority-as-mps-say-yes/|publisher=The Chamberlain Files|access-date=23 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622080447/http://www.thechamberlainfiles.com/all-systems-go-for-west-midlands-combined-authority-as-mps-say-yes/|archive-date=22 June 2016|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The first [[2017 West Midlands mayoral election|Mayoral election]] was held in May 2017, and the position was won by [[Andy Street]] of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]].