Stanley is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It is about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north-east of Wakefield city centre.Stanley was an Urban District in the West Riding of Yorkshire before 1974, being made up the four electoral wards of Lake Lock, Outwood, Stanley and Wrenthorpe. The Lofthouse / Stanley area of West Yorkshire has a combined population of 22,947. The ward remaining at the 2011 Census was called Stanley and Outwood East. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 15,314.