The borough is named after the Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands conurbation.

Gaining widespread acceptance for the identity of Sandwell and unifying the distinct communities within the borough has been a protracted affair.

[7] The local council has considered changing its name over confusion outside the West Midlands as to the whereabouts of the borough.

A survey of borough residents in June 2002 found that 65 per cent of respondents favoured retaining the name.

However, in the 2010 general election, Conservative party candidate James Morris was elected to the Halesowen and Rowley Regis seat which incorporates the Sandwell communities of Rowley Regis, Blackheath and Cradley Heath, and the neighbouring area of Halesowen which is situated within Dudley's borders.

This was the first time since the borough's creation that West Bromwich has returned any Conservative MPs to Parliament, and the first time that a constituency fully within the boundaries of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council has been represented by a Tory MP.

[36] It was originally based in the old Warley College buildings on Pound Road, Oldbury, and the West Bromwich College buildings on West Bromwich High Street, as well as a building in Smethwick town centre, but moved into a new single site campus in West Bromwich town centre in September 2012.