This article discusses the metropolitan district named the City of Wakefield. A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England covering urban areas within metropolitan counties. For information on the settlement itself, the district's principal settlement, and from which it takes its name, see Wakefield. Wakefield lies at the heart of the City of Wakefield, a Metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England.

City of Wakefield
Geography
Status:	Metropolitan borough, City (1888)
Region:	Yorkshire and the Humber
Admin. A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England covering urban areas within metropolitan counties. The region, also known as the government office region, is currently the highest tier of local government sub-national entity of England, with only one Yorkshire and the Humber is one of the nine government office Regions of England.  County:	West Yorkshire
Area:   Total:	Ranked 143rd 338.61 km²
Admin. West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of Area is a Quantity expressing the two- Dimensional size of a defined part of a Surface, typically a region bounded by a closed Curve. This is a list of Districts of England ordered by area. The areas given are calculated from the Output Areas created for Census 2001 and made available To help compare different Orders of magnitude and geographical regions we list here areas between 100 km² and 1000 km² Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of  HQ:	Wakefield
ONS code:	00DB
Demographics
Population:   Total (2006 est. Wakefield lies at the heart of the City of Wakefield, a Metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. The Office for National Statistics coding system is a hierarchical code used in the United Kingdom for tabulating Census and other statistical data In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology ):   Density:	Ranked 12th 321,200 949 / km²
Ethnicity:	97. The density of a material is defined as its Mass per unit Volume: \rho = \frac{m}{V} Different materials usually have different The figures are mid-year estimates for 2007 from the Office for National Statistics. 7% White 1. 4% S. Asian
Politics
Coat of arms of Wakefield MDC http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:
MPs:	Ed Balls, Yvette Cooper, Mary Creagh, Jon Trickett

City of Wakefield is a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. The Coat of arms of the Metropolitan District of Wakefield were granted in 1990 The pattern of local government in England is complex with the distribution of functions varying according to the local arrangements Composition Graphical representation of the House of Commons This is a comparison of the party strengths in the British House of Commons Edward Michael "Ed" Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British politician, and Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969 is a British Politician. She is the Labour Member of Parliament for Pontefract and Castleford and Mary Helen Creagh (born 2 December 1967) is a British Politician. Jonathan Hedley Trickett (born 2 July, 1950, Leeds, Yorkshire) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom and A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England covering urban areas within metropolitan counties. West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland In addition to the city of Wakefield, the district covers a wide area including several other towns. Wakefield lies at the heart of the City of Wakefield, a Metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. The "Five Towns" commonly grouped together are Normanton, Pontefract, Featherstone, Castleford and Knottingley. Normanton is a town and Civil parish within the City of Wakefield metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. Pontefract is a Market town in West Yorkshire, England near the A1 (or Great North Road the M62 motorway, and Castleford. Featherstone is a Town in the City of Wakefield district in West Yorkshire, England. Castleford is one of the five towns within the Metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. Knottingley is a town within the Metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England on the River Aire and the Other towns include Ossett, Hemsworth, South Kirkby & Moorthorpe and South Elmsall. Ossett (pronounced /ɒsɪt/ is a Market town within the Metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England Hemsworth is a small town on the edge of West Yorkshire, England. South Kirkby and Moorthorpe, as the name suggests are two villages merged into one located near Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England (Grid ref SE449108 South Elmsall is a small Town to the east of Hemsworth in the City of Wakefield district of West Yorkshire, England. It lies between Leeds and Sheffield. Leeds ( is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England Sheffield ( is a city and Metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England Wakefield is ranked as the 88th largest city in the European Union, but people in the other towns mentioned usually identify with that town rather than Wakefield, and Wakefield is not particularly well known nationally. This is a list of the largest cities in the European Union by population within city limits.

As recently as 2001, the Labour Party held more seats here than anywhere else in the country, but there has been a large swing against Labour in recent years; it only won 13 out of 21 seats in 2006. The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the The district is mainly made out of old coal-mining towns, although other industries include wool, chemicals, machine tools, glass and other forms of manufacturing. Coal mining is the extraction or removal of Coal from the Earth by Mining. Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells called follicles of animals in the Caprinae family principally sheep, but the hair of certain species A chemical substance is a Material with a definite chemical composition. A machine tool is a powered mechanical device typically used to fabricate metal components of machines by Machining, which is the selective removal of metal Glass in the common sense refers to a Hard, Brittle, transparent Solid, such as that used for Windows many Horbury is something of an anomaly in having had a large steel works. Horbury is a large village west of Wakefield and south of Ossett, in West Yorkshire, England. Steel Mill was one of Bruce Springsteen 's early bands and performed regularly on the Jersey Shore, in Virginia, and also in California from 1969 When Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979 there were 21 pits in the district. Margaret Hilda Thatcher Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925 Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) By the time the 1984 Strike began this had decreased to 15, however it still had more colleries than another district in the country. The miners' strike of 1984 – 1985 was a major Industrial action affecting the British coal industry. At the time of privatisation in November 1994, only two remained: the Prince of Wales at Pontefract, which closed in 2002, and Kellingley at Knottingley which is now the sole remainder of the industry that once dominated the district. Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of business from the Public sector (government to the Private sector (business Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Most of the district's pits had been very hardline during the 1984 strike.

In recent years, the economic and physical condition of several of the former mining towns and villages in Wakefield District have started to improve due to the booming economy of Leeds - and an increase in numbers of commuters to the city from the sub-region - and a recognition of undeveloped assets. Leeds ( is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England For instance Castleford, to the North East of Wakefield is seeing extensive development and investment because of the natural asset of its outlook on to the River Aire, its easy access to the national motorway network and the availability of former mining land for house-building. Castleford is one of the five towns within the Metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. The River Aire is a major River in Yorkshire, England of length 114km (71m In Ossett, house prices have risen from an average of £50,000 in 1998 to £130,000 in 2003.

The district has only small proportion of ethnic minorities, and most of the settlements outside of the town of Wakefield are almost entirely White. Crime is generally lower in this district than in the rest of West Yorkshire. West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of Although unemployment was amongst the highest in the country for most of the 1980s and 1990s, Wakefield District now has below-average unemployment. The "Wakefield East" ward had 4. 7% unemployment in May 2005 (source: Office for National Statistics) - which was more than 1% higher than any other ward. The Office for National Statistics (ONS is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly The eastern half of the district remains considerably less prosperous than the western half, with several deprived wards. Other problems typical of such an area include rates of suicide that are consistently amongst the highest in the country and a heroin problem that saw addiction rise by an incredible 3361% between 2000 and 2004.

A decision was made, in 2004, to transfer the district's extensive council housing to Wakefield and District Housing (WDH), an 'independent' housing association, who would be more efficient with repairs and maintaining decent accommodation; as council housing represented almost 30% of the district, this was the second-largest stock transfer in British history. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " The council house is a form of public or social housing in the United Kingdom. WDH are investing over £700m to regenerate the District and working with partners, such as WMDC, are investing in new housing within the District.

The City of Wakefield MDC's Queen Anne style administrative HQ, County Hall (1898), Wakefield

The present boundaries were set in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, when the county borough of Wakefield merged with the West Riding municipal boroughs of Castleford, Ossett and Pontefract, the urban districts of Featherstone, Hemsworth, Horbury, Knottingley, Normanton and Stanley, along with Wakefield Rural District and parts of Hemsworth Rural District and Osgoldcross Rural District. The Queen Anne Style is a style of architecture, furniture and decoration that reached its greatest popularity in the last quarter of the 19th century manifesting itself in Wakefield lies at the heart of the City of Wakefield, a Metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. The Local Government Act 1972 (1972 c 70 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, that reformed local government in England and Wales County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (excluding Scotland) to refer to a Borough or a City The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. Municipal boroughs were a type of Local government which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974 in Northern Ireland from 1840 to Castleford is one of the five towns within the Metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. Ossett (pronounced /ɒsɪt/ is a Market town within the Metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England Pontefract is a Market town in West Yorkshire, England near the A1 (or Great North Road the M62 motorway, and Castleford. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of Local government district that covered an Urbanised area Featherstone is a Town in the City of Wakefield district in West Yorkshire, England. Hemsworth is a small town on the edge of West Yorkshire, England. Horbury is a large village west of Wakefield and south of Ossett, in West Yorkshire, England. Knottingley is a town within the Metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England on the River Aire and the Normanton is a town and Civil parish within the City of Wakefield metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. Stanley is an area in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. Hemsworth was a Rural district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1894 to 1974 Osgoldcross Rural District was a Rural district in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England.

2006 Local government election

The district is divided into 21 wards and each is represented on the district council by three councillors. In Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, a ward is an Electoral district Each councillor is elected on a first past the post basis, normally for a four-year period which is staggered with the other councillors of that ward so that only one councillor per ward is up for election at any one time. The plurality voting system is a Single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member Exceptions to this include by-elections and ward boundary changes. A by-election or bye-election (called special election in the United States) is an Election held to fill a political office that has become vacant

The city was the safest Labour council in England in 2003, but there has been a huge swing against Labour in recent years. The Labour Party now has a majority of just one. The situation is identical in neighbouring Barnsley, where Labour have also been reduced to a majority of one. Barnsley is a Metropolitan borough of the Metropolitan county of South Yorkshire, England.

The table below summarises the results of the 2006 local government election. Each party is ordered by number of votes registered.