Merseyside

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Ceremonial County in England
Region: North West

§ This page provides an overview of an England's ceremonial county. Our website has 48 such county pages.

Overview ⁞ Merseyside is a metropolitan ceremonial county formed in 1974, centred around the River Mersey estuary and dominated by the city of Liverpool, a major port city with rich maritime, musical, and sporting heritage. The county also includes the boroughs of Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley, and St Helens, each with its own council. Once heavily reliant on shipping and industry, Merseyside has transitioned into a regional centre for culture, education, and tourism. It is part of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, headed by a directly elected Metro Mayor.

Is Merseyside a historic county? No—Merseyside is not a historic county; it was created in 1974 from parts of Lancashire and Cheshire. Administratively, the ceremonial county comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens, and Wirral (with no single county council since 1986).

Merseyside has 5 Local Authority Districts. The chart below shows how this compares with other counties in England.

Number of local authority districts in Merseyside and other counties
Number of local authority districts in Merseyside, compared with other counties
This county page, Merseyside, is a sub-page this region page: North West. It zooms in to local authorities, administrative districts, and parliamentary constituencies in this county. We have this list page for easy browsing of all historic counties, ceremonial counties, and administrative counties: List of all counties in the UK.

Local Authorities in Merseyside

Merseyside, in England’s North West region, is a metropolitan county made up of five metropolitan boroughs, each governed by its own council acting as a unitary authority responsible for all local services. These are Liverpool City Council, Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council, St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council, Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, and Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Created in 1974, the county has no county council, with each borough managing functions such as education, housing, planning, transport, and social care independently, while also cooperating through the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which oversees strategic matters like transport, regeneration, and economic development under a directly elected metro mayor. Together, these councils govern a county that includes the global port city of Liverpool, historic industrial towns, coastal resorts such as Southport, and suburban communities across the Wirral Peninsula, balancing strong local governance with region-wide coordination.

Districts in Merseyside

In the International Territorial Levels (ITLs) hierarchy, Merseyside is one of ITLs Level 2 area that contains the following 4 ITLs Level 3 areas:

(ITL 1) North West
(ITL 2) ⇒ Merseyside
(ITL 3) ⇒⇒ East Merseyside ⁞ Liverpool ⁞ Sefton ⁞ Wirral

Constituencies in Merseyside

A constituency is a specific geographical area that elects one Member of Parliament (MP) to represent them in the House of Commons. The United Kingdom is divided into 650 parliamentary constituencies, 16 of them are in Merseyside.

Counties in North West