The metropolitan district of Calderdale was created on 1 April 1974 under the
Local Government Act 1972. It covered the area of eight former districts and part of a ninth, which were all abolished at the same time: •
Brighouse Municipal Borough •
Elland Urban District •
Halifax County Borough •
Hebden Royd Urban District •
Hepton Rural District •
Queensbury and Shelf Urban District (
Shelf part only,
Queensbury went to
Bradford) •
Ripponden Urban District •
Sowerby Bridge Urban District •
Todmorden Municipal Borough The county borough of Halifax had provided all local government services in its area. The other eight districts had been lower-tier authorities with
West Riding County Council providing county-level services. The new Calderdale district was awarded
borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. Calderdale was initially a district-level authority, with
West Yorkshire County Council providing county-level services. However, the
metropolitan county councils, including West Yorkshire County Council, were abolished in 1986 under the
Local Government Act 1985. Since 1986 Calderdale Council has therefore been responsible for most local government functions. The council has been a constituent member of the
West Yorkshire Combined Authority since 2014, which has been led by the
directly elected Mayor of West Yorkshire since 2021. ==Governance==