It contains one parish: Ince, with the remaining area of the borough remaining unparished. This means that these unparished areas do not have local government at the level of the civil parish.
It was formed on 1 April1974 by the merger of the borough of Ellesmere Port and the urban district of Neston. The district was known simply as Ellesmere Port until the name was changed by the council effective 21 June1976.