St Helens is a metropolitan borough in Merseyside, North West England. It is named for its main town, St Helens. Other settlements in the borough include Newton-le-Willows, Haydock, Rainhill ,Eccleston and Rainford.

The borough was formed on April 1, 1974 as a merger of the former county borough of St Helens, along with the urban districts of Haydock, Newton-le-Willows and Rainford, and parts of Billinge-and-Winstanley and Ashton-in-Makerfield urban districts, along with part of Whiston Rural District.