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Merseyside County Council

Former English council

Field	Value
name	Merseyside County Council
coa_pic	Merseyside CoA.svg
coa_res	150px
coa_caption	Coat of arms of the Merseyside County Council
house_type	County council of Merseyside
established	1 April 1974
succeeded_by
disbanded	31 March 1986
leader1_type	Leader
members	99
last_election1	1981
session_room	Liverpool Townhall (7684898060).jpg
meeting_place	Liverpool Town Hall

Merseyside County Council (MCC) was, from 1974 to 1986, the upper-tier administrative body for Merseyside, a metropolitan county in North West England.

MCC existed for a total of twelve years. It was established on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972. Along with the other five metropolitan county councils and the Greater London Council, it was abolished on 31 March 1986 by the Thatcher government.

Premises

Metropolitan House, 95 Old Hall Street, Liverpool: Council's main offices

The county council had its main administrative offices at Metropolitan House at 95 Old Hall Street in Liverpool, renting part of the building from its owners, the Liverpool Echo and Daily Post newspaper group. The county council held its meetings at Liverpool Town Hall.

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:

Party in control		Years

Leadership

Until 1980, the leader of the council also held the formal role of chairman of the council. In 1980 the two roles were separated, with the chairmanship becoming largely ceremonial whilst political leadership was provided by the leader of the council. The first leader and chairman of the county council, Bill Sefton, had been the last leader of Liverpool City Council before the 1974 reforms took effect. The leaders of Merseyside County Council were:

Councillor	Party	From	To
Bill Sefton		1 Apr 1974	May 1977
Kenneth Thompson		May 1977	Oct 1980
last1=Craig	first1=Ian	title=Early start for new council chief	url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000271%2F19801021&page=3	access-date=20 July 2025	work=Liverpool Echo	date=21 October 1980	page=3}}		Oct 1980	May 1981
Jim Stuart-Cole		May 1981	Mar 1982
title=County leader's surprise defeat	url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0005474%2F19860404&page=11	access-date=20 July 2025	work=Liverpool Daily Post	date=4 April 1986	page=11}}		Mar 1982	31 Mar 1986

Abolition

The Conservative government abolished Merseyside County Council on 31 March 1986 under the Local Government Act 1985, along with the other five metropolitan county councils and the Greater London Council. Its powers devolved to the five metropolitan boroughs – Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral – which thus became effectively unitary authorities.

Certain of the county council's powers were taken up by joint authorities consisting of members of each borough council; some of these bodies were mandated by the 1985 act and some by order of the secretary of state, while others were voluntary arrangements. The joint bodies included:

Merseyside Fire and Civil Defence Authority (now Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service)
Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority (now branded as Merseytravel)
Merseyside Police Authority (replaced by the Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner)
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (now Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority)
Merseyside County Trading Standards Joint Committee

Council elections

References

Evans, Andrew. (13 August 1992). "End of the metropolitan line: County councils face an uncertain future". The Independent.
"Compositions Calculator". University of Exeter.
(12 September 2001). "Lord Sefton of Garston". The Independent.
(6 May 1977). "Night of the new faces...". Liverpool Echo.
(21 October 1980). "Early start for new council chief". Liverpool Echo.
(5 May 1981). "Oh, what a lovely war on the street". Liverpool Echo.
(8 May 1981). "New leader's blueprint for Merseyside". Liverpool Echo.
(8 March 1982). "County heads for clash over rates". Liverpool Echo.
(4 April 1986). "County leader's surprise defeat". Liverpool Daily Post.
Evans, Andrew. (12 August 1992). "Public Service Management: End of the metropolitan line". The Independent.
(16 July 1985). "Local Government Act 1985".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

history-of-merseyside local-authorities-in-merseyside 1986-disestablishments-in-england former-county-councils-of-england council-elections-in-merseyside

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