The Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham is a metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. It is named after its largest town, Rotherham, but also spans the outlying towns of Maltby, Swinton, Wath-upon-Dearne, Dinnington and also the villages of Rawmarsh and Laughton. A large valley also spans the entire borough. Locally known as the Rother Valley. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of the County Borough of Rotherham, with Maltby, Rawmarsh, Swinton and Wath-upon-Dearne urban districts along with Rotherham Rural District and Kiveton Park Rural District. Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council is one of the safest Labour councils in the United Kingdom, although the number of Labour council seats dropped from 92% to 79% in 2014 following the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal.
