Local Government Act 1972

Local Government Act 1972 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the government of Edward Heath (1970-1974), which received royal assent from Elizabeth II on 26 October 1972, and came into effect on 1 April 1974. The Act is concerned with local government in England and Wales, and it established a new system of administrative areas. A popular myth persists that the Act abolished the counties of England and Wales, some of which had been in existence for around 1000 years at that point. This is incorrect however; the act actually abolished the county councils (of which some covered areas substantially different to the counties) established some 90 years prior, plus the various other administrative bodies established subsequently.

It established a two-tier system of local government areas; metropolitan and non-metropolitan 'county' council areas and district council areas. Many of the act's local government reforms survived for little more than 20 years, as the metropolitan 'county' councils were abolished in 1996 (although areas corresponding with them remain in use as counties for the purposes of lieutenancy and elected metro mayorships)

Evidence that the act did not alter county boundaries

There is a persistent misapprehension that LGA 72 either abolished the traditional counties or modified their boundaries (such as Lancashire, with Lancashire County Council's boundaries differing from the county proper). Neither statement is accurate. LGA 72 abolished not one county, nor any of their traditional subdivisions, only abolishing county councils and the various other units of local government. The last statutory instrument to abolish a county was the Hexhamshire Act 1572, which made the county palatinate of Hexham (or Hexhamshire) part of Northumberland.

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) features a database Index of Place-Names of Great Britain which states "historic counties [...] have remained largely unchanged since the Middle Ages".