Wirral Council

Wirral Council, or Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government services in the borough. The council has been a member of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority since 2014.

The council has been under no overall control since 2019, with the leader of the council belonging to the Labour Party. Council meetings are held at Birkenhead Town Hall and the main administrative offices are at Alice Ker Square in Birkenhead.

History
The metropolitan district of Wirral and its council were created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. It covered the area of five former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:
 * Bebington Municipal Borough
 * Birkenhead County Borough
 * Hoylake Urban District
 * Wallasey County Borough
 * Wirral Urban District (Covered an area on the west side of the peninsula, with its council based in Heswall.)

The two county boroughs, Birkenhead and Wallasey, had provided all local government services in their areas. The other three districts had been lower-tier authorities with Cheshire County Council providing county-level services. The area was transferred from Cheshire to become of the five districts in the new metropolitan county of Merseyside. The first election to the new council was held in 1973. For its first year the council acted as a shadow authority alongside the area's outgoing authorities. The new metropolitan district and its council formally came into being on 1 April 1974, at which point the old districts and their councils were abolished.

The new Wirral district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. The council styles itself Wirral Council rather than its full formal name of Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.

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

Since 2014 the council has been a member of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which has been led by the directly elected Mayor of the Liverpool City Region since 2017. The combined authority provides strategic leadership and co-ordination for certain functions across the region, but Wirral Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions.

Political control
The council has been under no overall control since 2019, being led by a Labour minority administration.

Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership
The role of Mayor of Wirral (also termed the "Civic Mayor" to distinguish it from the Metro Mayor) is largely ceremonial. They represent the borough at civic functions, support local charities and chair council meetings. They are expected to be politically impartial whilst they hold the post, although they do get a casting vote in the event of a tie.

Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been:

Composition
Following the 2023 election and a change of allegiance in January 2024, the composition of the council was:

The next election is due in 2027.

Premises
Council meetings are held at Birkenhead Town Hall, which was completed in 1887 for the former Birkenhead Borough Council. The council's main offices are at Alice Ker Square in the centre of Birkenhead, being a modern office development completed in 2023. Prior to 2023 the council met at Wallasey Town Hall and had additional offices at the Cheshire Lines Committee building on Canning Street in Birkenhead.

Elections
Since the last boundary changes in 2004, the council has comprised 66 councillors representing 22 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. The whole council is elected together every four years from 2023 onwards, having previously been elected a third of the council at a time.

Wards and councillors
Each ward is represented by three councillors.