Sandwell has an identity problem. Few people outside of the West Midlands know where it is or much about the place. This may be because there is no physical location called Sandwell as the borough is named after a 12th century Benedictine monastery. Confusingly, it is the only metropolitan borough without a unique postcode.

It is one of seven metropolitan councils in the City Region forming part of a contiguous urban conurbation with Solihull, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Dudley and Walsall. More recently, it has become known for triggering Government intervention in 2022 because of historic governance failures and poor member-officer relationships. More positively, it successfully hosted the aquatics events at the last Commonwealth Games.