Conservatives in Walsall once again bucked the trend and successfully defended most of their seats in this year's local election. The ruling Tory group managed to hold on to almost all of the seats they were defending including those of deputy leaders Adrian Andrew and Garry Perry in Pheasey and Pelsall respectively.
Labour did taste success with gains in Bloxwich West which saw Michael Coulson taking the seat from the Tories and Eileen Russell reclaiming St Matthews from an Independent. Jade Chapman gained Rushall Shelfield for the Conservatives, which had been held by independent.
Members of the newly formed Independent Group who defected from Labour over the party's stance on the Palestine issue all made passionate speeches in support on Gaza when three out of four successfully defended their seats. Councillor Naheed Gultasib retained Pleck and Sabina Ditta secured a huge majority of more than 1,000 in Palfrey.
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These seats were previously Labour strongholds before the councillors split from the party last November. Another independent Pete Smith also dedicated his victory to people in Gaza after he successfully defended his Blakenall seat.
Current Tory cabinet members Cabinet members Gary Flint in Bloxwich East, Kerry Murphy in Brownhills, Keir Pedley in Streetly and Stacie Elson in Willenhall North also held their seats. In their thank you speeches following their victories, Conservatives hailed the strong leadership and team work which brought them such success and said the results, which went against the national picture, proved they were delivering for residents.
Following the count, Walsall Labour Group leader Matt Ward said he was pleased with the two gains in his first election as leader and pointed out close run races in a couple of other wards. The make up of the council is now 37 Conservatives, 14 Labour, 8 for the Independent Group and one of no political party.
Turnout for most of the wards were in the 20 and 30 per cents - the lowest being Blakenall at 22.17 per cent and the highest being Paddock with 40.98 per cent. Palfrey also attracted 40.13 per cent of voters.
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The full list of results are:
ALDRIDGE CENTRAL AND SOUTH:
Guan Chan - Green Party - 214
James Harrison - Labour Party - 926
Irene Henery - Reform UK - 378
Tim Wilson - Conservative Party - 2,268
ALDRIDGE NORTH AND WALSALL WOOD:
Lesley Ann Lynch - Reform UK - 428
Dean Margetts - Labour Party - 696
Shaun McKenzie - Green Party - 123
Keith Sears - Conservative Party - 1,399
Nigel Walker - Liberal Democrat - 85
BENTLEY AND DARLASTON NORTH:
Nahid Ahmed - Independent - 788
Stuart Chapman - Reform UK - 414
Abdul Kalam - Independent - 75
Kyra Murphy - Conservative Party - 389
Lucie Nahal - Labour Party - 952
BIRCHILLS-LEAMORE:
Amo Hussain - Conservative Party - 1,089
Toyin Oshaniwa - Green Party - 165
Elliot Pfebve - Labour Party - 936
Paul Wild - Liberal Democrat - 89
Elaine Williams - Reform UK - 406
BLAKENALL:
Peggy Coop - Reform UK - 230
Andrea Maynard - Green Party - 67
Ian Robertson - Labour Party - 807
Pete Smith - Independent - 971
Ana-Maria Zinica - Conservative Party - 206
BLOXWICH EAST:
Gary Flint - Conservative Party - 843
Angela Hodges - Liberal Democrat - 66
Sue Spencer - Reform UK - 338
Stephen Wade - Labour Party - 814
BLOXWICH WEST:
Nicky Barker - Reform UK - 474
Michael Coulson - Labour Party - 1.065
Stuart Hodges - Liberal Democrat - 66
Tony Sadla - Conservative Party - 1,043
BROWNHILLS:
Karl Andrews - Independent - 162
Michael Bruce - Labour Party - 779
Josh Dixon - Reform UK - 401
Kerry Murphy - Conservative Party - 1,056
DARLASTON SOUTH:
Chris Bott - Labour Party - 1,612
Peter Burton - Reform UK - 380
Isaac Crosby - Liberal Democrat - 103
Owen Webster - Conservative Party - 360
PADDOCK:
Dan Barker - Liberal Democrat - 279
Peter Faultless - Reform UK - 187
Nick Gandham - Conservative Party - 1,485
Ghulam Papu - Independent - 789
Gordon Shipley - Green Party - 155
Bob Thomas - Labour Party - 1,085
PALFREY:
Shamim Ahmed - Conservative Party - 693
Zulkifl Ahmed - Labour Party - 1,044
Sabina Ditta - Independent - 2,134
Sadat Hussain - Green Party - 298
Dexter Williams - Reform UK - 240
PELSALL:
Graham Eardley - Reform UK - 368
Robert Lipke - Labour Party - 510
Garry Perry - Conservative Party - 1,801
PHEASEY PARK FARM:
Adrian Andrew - Conservative Party - 1,614
Matthew Barker - Liberal Democrat - 208
Mark Bradley - Labour Party - 825
PLECK:
Akbar Ali - Conservative Party - 557
Mary Beddows - Green Party - 260
Naheed Gultasib - Independent - 1,459
Adam Mohammed - Labour Party - 1,323
Jonathan Stanley - Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition - 101
RUSHALL-SHELFIELD:
Joe Belcher - Green Party - 182
Jade Chapman - Conservative Party - 1,068
David Morgan - Labour Party - 951
Pete Page - Reform UK - 351
SHORT HEATH:
Lee Jeavons - Labour Party - 922
Chad Pitt - Liberal Democrat - 322
Josh Whitehouse - Conservative Party - 1,093
ST MATTHEWS:
Mushtaq Ahmed - Independent - 1,240
Raja Akhtar - Green Party - 296
Robin Perry - Reform UK - 287
Eileen Russell - Labour Party - 1,430
Vandana Sharma - Conservative Party - 894
STREETLY:
Ruby Ki-Kydd - Reform UK - 288
Harjinder Nahal - Labour Party - 801
Keir Pedley - Conservative Party - 2,203
Kieran Smith - Liberal Democrat - 176
Alison Walters - Green Party - 175
WILLENHALL NORTH:
Stacie Elson - Conservative Party - 997
Benjamin Hodges - Liberal Democrat - 355
Tal Singh - Labour Party - 989
WILLENHALL SOUTH:
Walter Eze - Conservative Party - 692
Leandra Gebrakedan - Liberal Democrat - 138
Klara Margetts - Labour Party - 1,773
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