29-580: Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands county in England . The borough is named after the Sandwell Priory , and spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands conurbation . Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council defines the borough as the six amalgamated towns of Oldbury , Rowley Regis , Smethwick , Tipton , Wednesbury and West Bromwich . Rowley Regis includes
58-613: A five-year cycle, or when a snap election is called. Since the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 , Parliament is automatically dissolved once five years have elapsed from its first meeting after an election. If a vacancy arises at another time, due to death or resignation , then a constituency vacancy may be filled by a by-election. Under the Representation of the People Act 1981 any MP sentenced to over
87-469: A member of Parliament is to do what they think in their faithful and disinterested judgement is right and necessary for the honour and safety of Great Britain. The second duty is to their constituents, of whom they are the representative but not the delegate. Burke's famous declaration on this subject is well known. It is only in the third place that their duty to party organisation or programme takes rank. All these three loyalties should be observed, but there
116-499: A person must be at least 18 years old and be a citizen of the UK , a Commonwealth nation, or Ireland . A person is not required to be registered to vote, nor are there any restrictions regarding where a candidate is a resident. The House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 outlaws the holders of various positions from being MPs. These include civil servants , regular police officers (but not special constables ), regular members of
145-625: A population of 309,000. The Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell was formed on 1 April 1974 as an amalgamation of the county boroughs of Warley ( ceremonially within Worcestershire ) and West Bromwich (ceremonially within Staffordshire ), under the Local Government Act 1972 . Warley had been formed in 1966 by a merger of the county borough of Smethwick with the municipal boroughs of Rowley Regis and Oldbury; at
174-581: A prison sentence of a year or more. People in respect of whom a bankruptcy restrictions order has effect are disqualified from (existing) membership of the House of Commons (details differ slightly in different countries). Members are not permitted to resign their seats. In practice, however, they always can. Should a member wish to resign from the Commons , they may request appointment to one of two ceremonial Crown offices: that of Crown Steward and Bailiff of
203-502: A year in jail automatically vacates their seat. For certain types of lesser acts of wrongdoing, the Recall of MPs Act 2015 mandates that a recall petition be opened; if signed by more than 10% of registered voters within the constituency, the seat is vacated. In the past, only male adult property owners could stand for Parliament. In 1918, women acquired the right to stand for Parliament , and to vote. To be eligible to stand as an MP,
232-465: Is divided into 24 electoral wards , with each one represented by 3 councillors on the borough council: Sandwell is home to nearly 100 primary schools, 25 secondary schools, 4 special schools and 1 college. Sandwell College , the only further education college in the borough, was opened in September 1986 following the merger of Warley College and West Bromwich College. It was originally based in
261-414: Is no doubt of the order in which they stand under any healthy manifestation of democracy. Theoretically, contemporary MPs are considered to have two duties, or three if they belong to a political party. Their primary responsibility is to act in the national interest. They must also act in the interests of their constituents, where this does not override their primary responsibility. Finally, if they belong to
290-657: The Senedd (Welsh Parliament) or the Northern Ireland Assembly are also ineligible for the Commons according to the Wales and Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts respectively, passed in 2014 (but members of the Scottish Parliament are eligible). People who are bankrupt cannot stand to be MPs. The Representation of the People Act 1981 excludes persons who are currently serving
319-702: The Sutton Coldfield TV transmitter. Radio stations for the area are: Local newspapers for the area are: The six towns that comprise Sandwell and localities within each include: Sandwell is twinned with: Metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district ) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 , metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan counties . All of
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#1732772227068348-727: The United Kingdom , a member of Parliament ( MP ) is an individual elected to serve in the House of Commons , the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . All 650 members of the UK House of Commons are elected using the first-past-the-post voting system in single member constituencies across the whole of the United Kingdom, where each constituency has its own single representative. All MP positions become simultaneously vacant for elections held on
377-587: The armed forces (but not reservists), and some judges . Members of the House of Lords were not permitted to hold Commons seats until the passing of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 , which allows retired or resigned members of the House of Lords to stand or re-stand as MPs. Members of legislatures outside of the Commonwealth are excluded, with the exemption of the Irish legislature . Additionally, members of
406-563: The council election in 2021 , the political composition of the council has been as follows: From the borough's creation in 1974 until 2010, all Members of Parliament (MPs) within its boundaries were Labour. However, in the 2010 general election , Conservative party candidate James Morris was elected to the Halesowen and Rowley Regis seat which incorporates the Sandwell communities of Rowley Regis , Blackheath and Cradley Heath , and
435-585: The Chiltern Hundreds , or that of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead . These offices are sinecures (that is, they involve no actual duties); they exist solely to permit the "resignation" of members of the House of Commons. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is responsible for making the appointment, and, by convention, never refuses to do so when asked by a member who desires to leave
464-530: The House of Commons. Members of Parliament are entitled to use the post-nominal initials MP. MPs are referred to as "honourable" as a courtesy only during debates in the House of Commons (e.g., "the honourable member for ..."), or if they are the children of peers below the rank of marquess ("the honourable [first name] [surname]"). Those who are members of the Privy Council use the form The Right Honourable ( The Rt Hon. ) Name MP. The first duty of
493-674: The borough council. The borough was named after Sandwell Priory, the ruins of which are located in Sandwell Valley . Gaining widespread acceptance for the identity of Sandwell and unifying the distinct communities within the borough has been a protracted affair. The local council has considered changing its name over confusion outside the West Midlands as to the whereabouts of the borough. A survey of borough residents in June 2002 found that 65 per cent of respondents favoured retaining
522-624: The latter having a directly elected metropolitan mayor . The term "metropolitan borough" was first used for administrative subdivisions of the County of London between 1900 and 1965. There were 28 of these metropolitan boroughs, which were replaced by a new system of larger London boroughs in 1965, when the County of London was replaced by Greater London . The current metropolitan boroughs originated as metropolitan districts created in 1974 as subdivisions of new metropolitan counties, created to cover
551-557: The metropolitan districts have been granted or regranted royal charters giving them borough status (and in some cases, they also have city status ). Metropolitan boroughs have been effectively unitary authority areas since the abolition of metropolitan county councils by the Local Government Act 1985 . Metropolitan boroughs pool much of their authority in joint boards and other arrangements that cover whole metropolitan counties, such as Local enterprise partnerships and Combined authorities and combined county authorities , with most of
580-464: The name. Landmarks and attractions in Sandwell include Wednesbury Museum and Art Gallery , Bishop Asbury Cottage , West Bromwich Manor House , Oak House, West Bromwich , and Sandwell Valley Country Park . It is also the home of West Bromwich Albion F.C. Sandwell used to be a popular hotspot for car cruising . In 2015 a High Court order was introduced to ban car cruising in the area. An extension has been secured to run until at least 2021. Since
609-516: The neighbouring area of Halesowen which is situated within Dudley's borders. This was the first time any part of Sandwell had elected a Conservative MP – or indeed an MP from any party other than Labour. In the December 2019 general election, however, Conservative candidates Nicola Richards and Shaun Bailey were elected to represent West Bromwich East and West Bromwich West respectively. This
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#1732772227068638-634: The old Warley College buildings on Pound Road, Oldbury, and the West Bromwich College buildings on West Bromwich High Street, as well as a building in Smethwick town centre, but moved into a new single site campus in West Bromwich town centre in September 2012. In 2004, a debt-ridden Sandwell College was subject to a police investigation. The area is served by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central . Television signals are received from
667-477: The responsibility of county councils . Many metropolitan districts were boroughs from their establishment on 1 April 1974; others gained borough status later. In 1986 the metropolitan county councils were abolished under the Local Government Act 1985 and most of their functions were devolved to the metropolitan boroughs, making them, to a large extent, unitary authorities in all but name. At
696-1046: The same time some of the functions of the abolished metropolitan county councils were taken over by joint bodies such as passenger transport authorities , and joint fire , police and waste disposal authorities. The metropolitan districts are administered by metropolitan district councils. They are the principal local authorities in the six metropolitan counties and are responsible for running most local services, such as schools, social services, waste collection, and roads. The 36 metropolitan boroughs are: Member of Parliament (United Kingdom) King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee In
725-507: The same time, West Bromwich had absorbed the boroughs of Tipton and Wednesbury. For its first 12 years of existence, Sandwell had a two-tier system of local government; Sandwell Council shared power with the West Midlands County Council . In 1986 the county council was abolished, and Sandwell effectively became a unitary authority . The borough is divided into 24 wards and is represented by 72 ward councillors on
754-627: The six largest urban areas in England outside Greater London. The new districts replaced the previous system of county boroughs , municipal boroughs , and urban and rural districts . Metropolitan districts were originally parts of a two-tier structure of local government, and shared power with metropolitan county councils. They differed from non-metropolitan districts in the division of powers between district and county councils. Metropolitan districts were local education authorities , and were also responsible for social services and libraries . In non-metropolitan counties these services were (and are)
783-594: The south and west, the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall to the north, and the City of Wolverhampton to the north-west. Spanning the borough are the parliamentary constituencies of West Bromwich West , West Bromwich East , Warley , and part of Halesowen and Rowley Regis , which crosses into the Dudley borough. The borough covers an area of 86 square kilometres (33 sq mi). At the 2011 census, it had
812-472: The towns of Blackheath and Cradley Heath . Sandwell's Strategic Town Centre is designated as West Bromwich, the largest town in the borough, while Sandwell Council House (the headquarters of the local authority) is situated in Oldbury. In 2019 Sandwell was ranked 12th most deprived of England's 317 boroughs. Bordering Sandwell is the City of Birmingham to the east, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley to
841-463: Was the first time since the borough's creation that West Bromwich has returned any Conservative MPs to Parliament, and the first time that a constituency fully within the boundaries of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council has been represented by a Tory MP. The election of both Richards and Bailey has been marked as a significant milestone in the political history of the borough and marked the end to decades of control by Labour MPs. The Sandwell Borough
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