Sefton

It is named after Sefton, near Maghull. When the borough was created, a name was sought that would not unduly identify the borough with any of its constituent parts, particularly the former county boroughs of Bootle and Southport. The area had strong links with both the Earl of Sefton and the Earl of Derby, resident of Knowsley Hall, and the adjacent borough was subsequently named Knowsley. A Sefton Rural District covering some of the villages in the district existed from 1894 to 1932.

• Name — Borough of Sefton • Type — Metropolitan borough • Subdivision Type — Sovereign state • Subdivision Name — United Kingdom • Subdivision Type1 — Country • Subdivision Name1 — England • Subdivision Type2 — Region • Subdivision Name2 — North West • Subdivision Type3 — Ceremonial county • Subdivision Name3 — Merseyside • Subdivision Type4 — City region • Subdivision Name4 — Liverpool • Established Title — Incorporated • Established Date — 1 April 1974 • Named For — Sefton • Seat Type — Administrative HQ • Seat — Bootle and Southport • Government Type — Metropolitan borough • Governing Body — Sefton Council • Leader Title — Executive • Leader Name — Leader and cabinet • Leader Title1 — Control • Leader Title2 — Leader • Leader Name2 — Marion Atkinson (L) • Leader Title3 — Mayor • Leader Name3 — June Burns • Leader Title4 — MPs • Leader Name4 — * Peter Dowd (L) • Bill Esterson (L) • Patrick Hurley (L) • Unit Pref — Metric • Area Total Km2 — 203 • Demographics Type1 — Ethnicity (2021) • Demographics1 Title1 — Ethnic groups • Demographics Type2 — Religion (2021) • Demographics2 Title1 — Religion • Time Zone1 — GMT • Utc Offset1 — +0 • Time Zone1 Dst — BST • Utc Offset1 Dst — +1 • Postal Code Type — Postcode areas • Postal Code — * L • PR • Area Code Type — Dialling codes • Area Code — * 0151 • 01704 • Iso Code — GB-SFT • Custom Label1 Sec1 — GSS code • Custom Data1 Sec1 — E08000014 • Website — sefton.gov.uk

The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton is one of the six constituent local government districts of the Liverpool City Region. Since 1 April 2014, some of the borough's responsibilities have been pooled with neighbouring authorities within the metropolitan area and subsumed into the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The combined authority has effectively become the top-tier administrative body for the local governance of the city region and the leader of Sefton Council, along with the five other leaders from neighbouring local government districts, take strategic decisions over economic development, transport, employment and skills, tourism, culture, housing and physical infrastructure. In July 2015, negotiations took place between the UK national government and the combined authority over a possible devolution deal to confer greater powers on the region, including whether to introduce an elected 'Metro Mayor' to oversee the entire metropolitan area.

• Illustration — Bootle Town Hall The existence of Sefton has been an ongoing local controversy, especially in Southport, where local Members of Parliament (MPs) and councillors have campaigned for separation from Bootle and the possible inclusion of the town as a district in the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire. It was highlighted after the 2012 local government election that different regions in Sefton had vastly different socio-economic backgrounds and needs. There are high levels of poverty around the Bootle area and central Southport.

In 2021, the Office for National Statistics estimated the GDP of Sefton to be £5.4 billion, with 9.8% growth in the previous year. The majority of the Port of Liverpool is in Sefton, including a freeport. Major employers include Experian, HMRC and Shop Direct.

• Ethnic Group — 2001 — 2011 • Number — % — Number — % • White: British — 273,536 — 96.67% — 259,629 — 94.83% • White: Irish — 2,665 — 0.94% — 2,312 — 0.84% • White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller — 120 — 0.04% • White: Other — 2,339 — 0.83% — 4,680 — 1.71% • White: Total — 278,540 — 98.44% — 266,741 — 97.43% • Asian or Asian British: Indian — 604 — 0.21% — 666 — 0.24% • Asian or Asian British: Pakistani — 181 — 0.06% — 127 — 0.04% • Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi — 257 — 0.09% — 308 — 0.11% • Asian or Asian British: Chinese — 903 — 0.32% — 965 — 0.35% • Asian or Asian British: Other Asian — 173 — 0.06% — 653 — 0.24% • Asian or Asian British: Total — 2,118 — 0.75% — 2,719 — 0.99% • Black or Black British: African — 204 — 0.07% — 464 — 0.17% • Black or Black British: Caribbean — 173 — 0.06% — 223 — 0.08% • Black or Black British: Other Black — 61 — 0.02% — 109 — 0.04% • Black or Black British: Total — 438 — 0.15% — 796 — 0.29% • Mixed: White and Black Caribbean — 476 — 0.17% — 830 — 0.30% • Mixed: White and Black African — 234 — 0.08% — 488 — 0.18% • Mixed: White and Asian — 441 — 0.16% — 760 — 0.28% • Mixed: Other Mixed — 433 — 0.15% — 742 — 0.27% • Mixed: Total — 1,584 — 0.56% — 2,820 — 1.03% • Other: Arab — 327 — 0.12% • Other: Any other ethnic group — 387 — 0.14% • Other: Total — 278 — 0.10% — 714 — 0.26% • Black, Asian, and minority ethnic: Total — 4,418 — 1.56% — 7,049 — 2.57% • Total — 282,958 — 100.00% — 273,790 — 100.00%

At the 2011 census, there were 265,010 usual residents of Sefton aged 3 or over whose main language was declared. The 10 most common main languages were as follows: • English 259,820 (98.04%) • Polish 1,579 (0.62%) • Chinese 415 (0.16%) • Portuguese 318 (0.12%) • Latvian 252 (0.10%) • Spanish 201 (0.08%) • Lithuanian 190 (0.07%) • Arabic 158 (0.06%) • Bengali (with Sylheti and Chittagonian) 142 (0.05%) • Turkish 141 (0.05%) 1,794 (0.68%) usual residents over the age of 3 had a different main language to the above languages.

• Bootle • Sefton Central • Southport

Sefton is twinned with: • Gdańsk, Poland (since 1993) • Mons, Belgium

The following people, military units and Organisations and Groups have received the Freedom of the Borough of Sefton.

• Donald "Ginger" McCain: 22 June 2004 • Jamie Carragher: 23 January 2006 • Alex Greenwood: 17 November 2022 • Frank Cottrell-Boyce: 13 November 2025

• 238 (Sefton) Squadron 156 Regiment Royal Corps of Transport: 6 March 1982 • 238 (Sefton) Squadron 156 (North-West) Transport Regiment Royal Logistic Corps (Volunteers): 13 April 2002 • RAF Woodvale: 3 July 2011 • Mersey, RN: 17 November 2016. • The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: 20 June 2017

• The Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust: 27 May 2021 • Sefton CVS (Community Voluntary Service)

In terms of television, the area is served by BBC North West and ITV Granada broadcasting from the Winter Hill transmitter. The borough is served by both BBC Radio Merseyside and BBC Radio Lancashire. Other radio stations including Heart North West, Smooth North West, Dune Radio, Hits Radio Liverpool, Hits Radio Lancashire, Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool & The North West and Greatest Hits Radio Lancashire. The area is served by the regional newspapers the Lancashire Telegraph and the Liverpool Echo. Other local newspapers are The Southport Visiter and Southport Reporter.