West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in England, corresponding roughly to the core of the West Riding of the traditional county of Yorkshire. It borders on Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, North Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.
It is composed of the districts of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield. It was formed in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972. Its county council was abolished in 1986 making its metropolitan boroughs de facto unitary authorities, although the county still exists in law and ceremonially. In Parliament, all-but-one of West Yorkshire's M.P.s are Labour. At local level, the councils are generally divided, apart from the Wakefield district, which has long been one the safest Labour councils in the country. The Wakefield district's industrial heritage of coal-mining tends to set it apart from the rest of the county somewhat.
Although the county council was abolished, some local services are still run jointly on a county-wide basis, such as emergency services (West Yorkshire Police) and public transport (West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive). There are currently plans for a tram system in West Yorkshire, but those for a Leeds Supertram were rejected by the government in 2005.
