Editing Metropolitan county (section)

===Creation===
The idea of creating administrative areas based upon the large [[conurbation]]s outside [[London]], modelled on the [[County of London]] or [[Greater London]], was mooted several times in the 20th century. In 1948, the [[Local Government Boundary Commission (1945 - 1949)|Local Government Boundary Commission]] proposed several new counties, including '[[Greater Manchester|South East Lancashire North East Cheshire]]' ("Selnec"), and '[[Merseyside|South West Lancashire North West Cheshire]]'. In the 1960s the [[Local Government Commission for England (1958 - 1967)|Local Government Commission for England]] proposed such an arrangement for [[Tyneside]] and draft proposals considered it for Selnec. For the [[West Midlands conurbation]], the commission proposed instead a group of contiguous [[county borough]]s with no overall metropolitan authority.

The [[Redcliffe-Maud Report]] of 1969 proposed the creation of three large "metropolitan areas" based upon the conurbations surrounding [[Manchester]], [[Liverpool]] and [[Birmingham]] (Selnec, [[Merseyside]], and [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]]), which were to have both metropolitan councils covering the entire areas, and district councils covering parts. [[Harold Wilson]]'s government published a [[white paper]] broadly accepting these recommendations, and adding [[South Yorkshire]] and [[West Yorkshire]] as metropolitan areas.<ref name=Hampton>Hampton, W., ''Local Government and Urban Politics'', (1991).</ref>

The proposals were radically altered when [[Edward Heath]]'s [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government came to power in 1970. The Conservatives' local government white paper was published in February 1971, naming the metropolitan areas "metropolitan counties", and giving them as "Merseyside, south-east Lancashire and north-east Cheshire, the West Midlands, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, and the [[Tyne and Wear]] area".<ref>''Cities and towns lose borough status in reshaped local councils.'' The Times. 17 February 1971.</ref><ref>Bryne, T., ''Local Government in Britain'', (1994).</ref>

The proposed counties were also far smaller than in the original proposals; they were trimmed at each successive stage. The Redcliffe-Maud Report had included [[Chester]] in Merseyside and [[Redditch]] and [[Stafford]] in West Midlands. The Conservative policy favoured retaining historic boundaries as far as was practicable,<ref name=Hampton /> and the new white paper proposals generally reduced the metropolitan counties to the continuously built up area. Many areas on the edges were excluded from the metropolitan counties when the bill was passed: [[Easington, County Durham|Easington]], [[Harrogate]], [[Knaresborough]], [[Ellesmere Port]], [[Neston, Cheshire|Neston]], [[New Mills]], [[Whaley Bridge]] and [[Glossop]]; other areas were excluded during the bill's passage, such as [[Seaham, County Durham|Seaham]], [[Skelmersdale and Holland]], [[Poynton]] and [[Wilmslow]]. One area, the county borough of [[Southport]], was added to Merseyside in the bill, at the local council's request.

Several other proposals for metropolitan counties were made during the bill's passage, including a revival of the proposal for [[Hampshire]] (either the southern part or all of it)<ref>Future of Hampshire : Letter to the Editor by Mayors of Southampton and Southampton. The Times. 12 April 1972.</ref> and [[central Lancashire]]. A Thamesside metropolitan county, covering areas of north [[Kent]] and south [[Essex]] on the [[Thames Estuary]] (and now considered part of the [[Thames Gateway]]) was also proposed.<ref>''Thamesside county urged to tackle river problems.'' The Times. 19 January 1972.</ref>

The metropolitan counties were created by the [[Local Government Act 1972]]. The county councils were first elected in 1973, and were formally established in April 1974.