Birmingham: Borders, Wards & Constituencies

Birmingham has changed a great deal over the centuries: from a small market settlement, to a bustling Victorian industrial city. As Birmingham has grown more in the last century, it’s expansion has left many smaller outlying towns to become part of the wider city. How is such a large area organised? 

The Birmingham Metropolitan Borough

Birmingham has become separated into many different wards and constituencies. In 1974 Birmingham absorbed the suburban town of Sutton Coldfield to become the Metropolitan borough of Birmingham. This is a local government district, and the label of ‘borough’ is granted by Royal Charter: an honorary title that recognises the importance of such large population centres. 

Metropolitan boroughs, like Birmingham, are smaller parts of a Metropolitan county. Birmingham is just one borough in the West Midlands metropolitan county, alongside its neighbouring boroughs: Walsall, Solihull, Coventry, Sandwell, Dudley and Wolverhampton. The 1974 creation of the county also created West Midlands County Council, responsible for some decision making across the region, though this was abolished in 1986.

 This organisation would change again in 2016, when the ‘West Midlands Combined Authority’ was created, in order to oversee the development of the area. A new position was created to chair this authority, the Mayor of the West Midlands, and after the first Mayoral election in May 2017 the Conservative politician Andy Street was elected Mayor.

Wards and Constituencies: what’s the difference?

The Metropolitan borough of Birmingham is governed by its own local authority, just like all the other neighbouring boroughs. Birmingham City Council is the largest local authority to be found in Europe. It is divided in two different ways: into ‘wards’ and ‘constituencies.

Birmingham’s wards

Birmingham is made up of 69 different wards, which divide the borough up into many distinct areas, often named for the particular neighbourhood that they represent. Some of the largest suburban areas are made up of several different wards. For example, Edgbaston, where the University of Birmingham can be found, is its own ward. Soho and the Jewellery Quarter is also its own distinct ward. Sutton Coldfield, on the other hand, is a town spread over a much larger area. This means it makes up 8 of the 69 wards, each named for a different area of the town: from Sutton Trinity, to Sutton Wylde Green.

These wards each elect either one or two councillors to sit on Birmingham City Council, and take part in governing the borough. These 101 councillors govern the area from the Council House, in Birmingham’s Victoria Square.

Birmingham’s Constituencies

Birmingham’s 10 parliamentary constituencies cover much wider areas: Edgbaston, Erdington, Hall Green, Hodge Hill, Ladywood, Northfield, Perry Barr, Selly Oak, Sutton Coldfield and Yardley. 

These constituencies are also known as electoral districts. Instead of electing representatives to local government, each of these areas elects a single MP to represent them in the House of Commons. This is the lower house of the United Kingdom’s Parliament, that deals with the day to day of governing the entire nation.