Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, also known as Dudley Council, is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. The town of Dudley had been a borough since the thirteenth century, being reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 the council has been a metropolitan borough council. It provides the majority of local government services in the borough. The council has been a member of the West Midlands Combined Authority since 2016.

The council has been under no overall control since the 2024 election, with the leader of the council being a Conservative. It is based at Dudley Council House.

History

The town of Dudley had been a seigneurial borough from the thirteenth century, under the control of the lord of the manor. More modern forms of local government for the town began in 1791 when a body of improvement commissioners was established to pave, light and clean the streets, and supply water. The commissioners were replaced in 1853 with an elected local board.

The town was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1865, governed by a body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Dudley", generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council. The old local board's functions passed to the new borough council, which also replaced the ancient borough corporation.

When elected county councils were established in 1889, Dudley was considered large enough to provide its own county-level functions, and so it was made a county borough, independent from Worcestershire County Council, whilst remaining part of the geographical county of Worcestershire (despite being an exclave detached from the rest of the county). The County Borough of Dudley was enlarged on several occasions, notably in 1966 when it absorbed the majority of the abolished urban districts of Brierley Hill, Coseley and Sedgeley, alongside boundary adjustments with several other neighbours. As part of the 1966 reforms the borough was transferred to the geographical county of Staffordshire.

The modern metropolitan borough and its council were established in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, as one of seven boroughs in the new metropolitan county of the West Midlands. The new borough covered the combined area of the old county borough of Dudley plus the municipal boroughs of Halesowen and Stourbridge (the latter having absorbed the main part of the abolished Amblecote Urban District in the 1966 reforms). The enlarged district was named Dudley, and the borough status previously held by the county borough passed to the new district on its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Dudley's series of mayors dating back to at least the sixteenth century.

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

Since 2016 the council has been a member of the West Midlands Combined Authority, which has been led by the directly elected Mayor of the West Midlands since 2017. The combined authority provides strategic leadership and co-ordination for certain functions across the county, but Dudley Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions.

The council bid for the borough to be awarded city status in 2011 and again in 2021, but was unsuccessful on both occasions.

Governance

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council provides both county-level and district-level services, with some functions across the West Midlands provided via joint committees with the other West Midlands authorities, overseen by the combined authority and mayor. There are no civil parishes in the borough, which is an unparished area.

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2024.

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

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Dudley. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1998 have been:

Composition

Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was Conservative 34, Labour 34, Liberal Democrats 3 and Independent 1. Following the election, after a week of negotiation it was announced that Patrick Harley would remain leader of the council while Labour would be in charge of the majority of scrutiny committee chairmanships and the mayoralty. As Leader of the Council, Cllr Harley was in charge of appointing the Council's cabinet, meaning Dudley Council became a Conservative minority administration. The appointed cabinet was decided on 16 May 2024. It was subsequently criticised by the council's Labour councillors for a lack of diversity, with only one woman in its line-up and no councillors from ethnic minorities.

There have subsequently been some by-elections and changes to party affiliations; in March 2025, four Labour councillors, including the local group's leader Pete Lowe, resigned from the party and now stand as Dudley Independent Group, along with a labour councillor who resigned earlier in the year. In May 2025 members of the Dudley Independent Group launched the Black Country Party.

The current make-up of the council is:

Premises

The council has its main offices at Dudley Council House on Priory Road, which was built in phases between 1928 and 1935 for the old county borough council.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2004 the council has comprised 72 councillors representing 24 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) being elected each time for a four-year term of office. Elections for the Mayor of the West Midlands are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections. New ward boundaries are being prepared to take effect from the 2024 election, which will require all seats to be contested at that election.

Wards

The 24 wards of the Dudley Borough are each represented by 3 councillors. The council groups wards together into 5 Community Forums to enable community engagement under the banner 'Your home, your forum'.

Members of parliament

Following the 2023 review of constituencies and the July 2024 UK general election, the members of parliament for constituencies within Dudley MBC area are:

Chief Executives

Mayor of Dudley and Civic Awards

The Mayor presides over meetings of the full Council to ensure that business is carried out properly and efficiently, with due regard to the rights of Councillors and the interest of the Community. The Mayor of the Borough is elected at the Annual Meeting of the Council (usually in May each year) from the existing elected councillors.

The Mayor also nominates charities they wish to support during their mayoral year and hosts the annua
Mayors Ball and Civic Awards
The Civic Awards aim to recognise individuals and groups who make a difference in the borough. Each award is named for a local personality in that field.
* The Frank Foley award for community spirit
* The William Shenstone award for environment
* The Duncan Edwards award for sport
* The Cedric Hardwicke award for arts
* The Thomas Attwood award for education
* The Mike Holder award for business

Civic arms and motto

Dudley's coat of arms was designed in 1975.Dudley's little book of history It symbolises each of the authorities that came together to form the present borough. Key themes on the civic arms reflect the area's pride in its industrial past.

The council adopted "Unity and Progress" as its motto in 1974.

References

{{Local authorities in the West Midlands
Local authorities in the West Midlands (county)
Metropolitan district councils of England
1974 establishments in England
Borough Council