2022 Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council election

2022 Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council election

5 May 2022
21 of 60 seats on Walsall Council 31 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Mike Bird Aftab Nawaz n/a Party Conservative Labour Independent Seats before 37 19 2 Seats after 38 20 2 Seat change 1
Winner of each seat at the 2022 Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council election
Leader before election Mike Bird Conservative Leader after election Mike Bird Conservative

The 2022 Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect members of Walsall Council. This was on the same day as other local elections. 21 of the 60 seats were up for election, with 1 ward (Willenhall South) electing 2 councillors.[1]

Background

Since its creation in 1974, Walsall has varied between the Conservatives and Labour. Between 1973 and 2004, Walsall had been under Labour control from 1973 to 1976, 1980 to 1982, 1988 to 1992, 1995 to 1996, and 1999 to 2000.[2] It was then under Conservative control between 2004 and 2011, before reverting to no overall control and being retaken by the Conservatives in 2019.[3] In the 2021 elections, the Conservatives gained 5 seats with 54.1% of the vote, Labour lost 3 with 36.3%, and the Liberal Democrats lost their 2 seats on the council with 2.5%.

The seats up for election this year were last elected in 2018. In that election, the Conservatives gained 5 seats, Labour lost 2, and UKIP lost their 3 seats on the council.[4]

Previous council composition

After 2021 election			Before 2022 election[5]			After 2022 election
Party		Seats	Party		Seats	Party		Seats
	Conservative	36		Conservative	37		Conservative	38
	Labour	22		Labour	19		Labour	20
	Independent	2		Independent	2		Independent	2

Changes:

• May 2021: Douglas James leaves Labour to sit as an independent[6]
• July 2021: Harbans Sarohi (Labour) dies; by-election held in December, but winner unable to take seat[7][8]
• December 2021: Sean Coughlan (Labour) resigns; seat left vacant until 2022 elections[9]

Results

2022 Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	13	1	61.9	25	38	63.3	23,472	44	-10.1
	Labour	8	1	38.1	13	21	35.0	23,712	44.6	+8.2
	Independent	0		0.0	2	2	3.3	2,720	5.1	+3.9
	Liberal Democrats	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	2,994	5.6	+3.1
	Reform UK	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	434	0.8	-0.4

Results by ward

An asterisk indicates an incumbent councillor.

Aldridge Central and South

Aldridge Central and South[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bobby Bains	2,365	68.16	−8.12
	Labour	Kathryn Smith	1,105	31.84	+17.71
Majority			1,260	36.31
Turnout			3,470
	Conservative hold		Swing

Aldridge North and Walsall Wood

Aldridge North and Walsall Wood[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Harris*	1,690	63.65	−7.88
	Labour	Michael Bruce	965	36.35	+17.58
Majority			725	27.31
Turnout			2,655
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bentley and Darlaston North

Bentley and Darlaston North[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rose Burley*	1,264	57.59	+1.36
	Conservative	Mohammed Saghir	553	25.19	−18.58
	Independent	Sharon Felton	378	17.22	New
Majority			711	32.39
Turnout			2,195
	Labour hold		Swing

Birchills Leamore

Birchills Leamore[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tina Jukes	1,175	53.43	+17.04
	Conservative	Amy Read	868	39.47	−14.98
	Reform UK	Elaine Williams	156	7.09	+3.69
Majority			307	13.96
Turnout			2,199
	Labour hold		Swing

Blakenall

Blakenall[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Izzy Hussain	809	38.12	+13.1
	Labour	Matt Ward	692	32.61	−4.57
	Independent	Dave Taylor	621	29.26	New
Majority			117	5.51
Turnout			2,122
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Bloxwich East

Bloxwich East[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Statham*	1,205	60.07	−0.46
	Labour	Adam Mohammed	660	32.90	−6.57
	Liberal Democrats	Ben Hodges	141	7.03	New
Majority			545	27.17
Turnout			2,006
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bloxwich West

Bloxwich West[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Louise Harrison*	1,499	58.58	−8.3
	Labour	Michael Coulson	1,060	41.42	+15.62
Majority			439	17.16
Turnout			2,559
	Conservative hold		Swing

Brownhills

Brownhills[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Murray	1,206	49.00	−6.00
	Labour	Emma Morgan	990	40.23	+5.93
	Independent	Lee Chapman	265	10.77	New
Majority			216	8.78
Turnout			2,461
	Conservative hold		Swing

Darlaston South

Darlaston South[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Bott*	1,686	78.90	+15.2
	Conservative	Manju Gill	451	21.10	−15.2
Majority			1,235	57.79
Turnout			2,137
	Labour hold		Swing

Paddock

Paddock[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gurmeet Singh Sohal*	1,638	45.99	−6.61
	Labour	Rishi Sharma	1,523	42.76	+0.66
	Liberal Democrats	Daniel Barker	401	11.26	New
Majority			115	3.23
Turnout			3,562
	Conservative hold		Swing

Palfrey

Palfrey[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shakila Hussain	2,101	53.80	−12.00
	Independent	Shamim Ahmed	1,191	30.50	New
	Conservative	Moz Khan	613	15.70	−18.50
Majority			910	23.30
Turnout			3,905
	Labour hold		Swing

Pelsall

Pelsall[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Lee*	1,707	64.05	−10.75
	Labour	Patti Lane	680	25.52	+7.92
	Reform UK	Graham Eardley	278	10.43	+6.83
Majority			1,027	38.54
Turnout			2,665
	Conservative hold		Swing

Pheasey Park Farm

Pheasey Park Farm[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chris Towe*	1,461	57.93	−13.17
	Labour	Hannah Jones	881	34.93	+13.53
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Barker	180	7.14	+3.84
Majority			580	23.00
Turnout			2,522
	Conservative hold		Swing

Pleck

Pleck[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ram Mehmi	1,739	73.56	−1.24
	Conservative	Leyoh Goodall	625	26.44	+1.24
Majority			1,114	47.12
Turnout			2,364
	Labour hold		Swing

Rushall-Shelfield

Rushall-Shelfield[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Vera Waters*	1,280	48.87	+5.37
	Labour	David Morgan	1,074	41.01	−9.09
	Independent	Jade Davies	265	10.12	New
Majority			206	7.87
Turnout			2,619
	Conservative hold		Swing

Short Heath

Short Heath[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Amandeep Garcha	1,021	46.51	−7.59
	Labour	Simon Rollason	843	38.41	+16.81
	Liberal Democrats	Mohammed Yaqub	331	15.08	−9.22
Majority			178	8.11
Turnout			2,195
	Conservative hold		Swing

St. Matthews

St. Matthews[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Aftab Nawaz*	2,268	62.39	+11.59
	Conservative	Vandana Sharma	1,064	29.27	−7.53
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Watts	303	8.34	New
Majority			1,204	33.12
Turnout			3,635
	Labour hold		Swing

Streetly

Streetly[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Suky Samra*	1,944	58.55	−9.35
	Liberal Democrats	Jennifer Gray	717	21.60	+10.1
	Labour	Eileen Russell	659	19.85	+4.05
Majority			1,227	36.96
Turnout			3,320
	Conservative hold		Swing

Willenhall North

Willenhall North[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rob Larden	986	41.64	−4.36
	Labour	Lee Jeavons	694	29.31	+7.41
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Hodges	688	29.05	−0.75
Majority			292	12.33
Turnout			2,368
	Conservative hold		Swing

Willenhall South

Willenhall South[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Simran Cheema	1,653	60.24	+6.7
	Labour	Connor Horton	1,462	53.28	−0.2
	Conservative	Poonam Gill	729	26.56	−15.1
	Conservative	Tony Sadler	677	24.67	−17.0
	Liberal Democrats	Angela Hodges	233	8.49	+3.7
Majority
Turnout			2,744
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. "Election timetable in England". GOV.UK. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
2. "Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council Election Results 1973-2012" (PDF). Elections Centre. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
3. Coussins, Jordan (3 May 2019). "Walsall Council local elections 2019: Conservatives take control". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
4. Leather, Harry. "Walsall local election results: Tory gains leave them in pole position". Express and Star. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
5. "Your Councillors by Party". Walsall.gov. 8 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
6. "Councillor Douglas James". Walsall.com. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
7. Thandi, Gurdip. "'True gentleman' of Walsall politics – due to become mayor next year – dies suddenly". expressandstar.com. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
8. Thandi, Gurdip (17 December 2021). "Candidate who couldn't win by-election WINS it and it's pointless". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
9. Thandi, Gurdip (6 December 2021). "Ex-council boss quits after child sex offence charges". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
10. "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED" (PDF). Walsall Council. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
11. Rowe, Nathan (6 May 2022). "Walsall Council Conservatives reinforce control and take one seat from Labour". Express and Star. Retrieved 7 May 2022.