Reform takes control of Walsall and Sandwell councils

Reform UK has taken control of Sandwell and Walsall councils in a historic win for the party and a disastrous 24 hours for Labour.

Nigel Farage's party won 37 seats in Sandwell, ending Labour's 47-year reign at the authority.

In Walsall, Reform secured 40 of 60 seats to seize control. Former Conservative leader Mike Bird lost his seat by just seven votes.

Reform also gained seats at the two other Black Country councils where elections took place. Dudley remained with no majority party and Labour held Wolverhampton, but with a reduced number of councillors.

Former Sandwell Council leader Kerrie Carmichael lost her Blackheath seat, with three seats in the ward won by Reform.

Successful candidate Michael Cooper, a market trader of 45 years, said the win "hadn't been personal".

"It's been a difficult battle and my feet are very sore," he said, adding: "I've walked and walked and knocked many, many doors."

He said he had received a "fantastic response" from locals "and that made it worthwhile".

"They've supported me, and I feel now it's time for me now to do the same for them."

His priorities were now to be "transparent and accessible", he added.

In Walsall, the Conservatives lost 26 seats, Labour was down by 16 and the independents up by four.

Newly-elected Reform Walsall councillor Elaine Williams said she felt "absolutely ecstatic" and it had been a "wonderful day".

"Being out on the streets, people have had enough of what's been going on in Walsall and had a lot of issues with the Labour government as well," she said.

Williams said she wanted to see the council bring businesses back into the town centre, as well as tackling issues such as the fate of the leather museum and the authority's planning process.

Reform is likely to elect a new group leader over the weekend and the full council next meets on 18 May.

Before losing his Pheasey Park Farm seat, Bird, a councillor for 46 years, said it had been the worst election campaign he had ever experienced.

He said he and his daughter Kara Babb, who stood as Conservative candidate in the neighbouring Streetly ward, had been victims of personal attacks.

"It's been vindictive attacks on people, disgraceful attacks on people, to the fact that I reported on two or three occasions to the police.

"Now that's not democracy, that's character assassination."

Pat McFadden, Wolverhampton MP and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, was at the Walsall count.

He said the success of Reform was "obviously disappointing for Labour".

"I've been in politics a very long time, I remember winning local elections in the past. It's a great feeling when you win, it's a bad feeling when you lose.

He gave his backing to Labour leader Keir Starmer.

"[Local elections] don't normally define a prime minister," he said, "because people know that it's a different thing from a general election".

But he added: "We've got a lot of work to do after this, voters are certainly sending a message - they want change, they want to see us doing a better job and we've got to take that very seriously."

Meanwhile, Reform won 22 of the 25 seats up for election in Dudley - a third of the full council.

Labour lost all but one seat, the Conservatives dropped seven and held two and the Liberal Democrats lost one, compared to when these seats were last contested.

The result leaves Dudley Council still under no overall control, with Reform the second biggest party, with 23 seats - behind the Tories' 27.

Before the polls opened, the Conservatives ran the council with the most seats, but did not have a majority, so was working with the Lib Dems.

Ex-Conservative MP for Dudley North Marco Longhi defected to Reform before running for a council seat in Upper Gornal and Woodsetton, with which he has been victorious.

Reform in Dudley would not do deals with the Tories, he said.

Longhi said people in the area would get "a scenario where we will be holding the existing Conservative administration much more to account".

It had been "an extraordinary night for us", he said, after he set a target for the party to win 15 seats.

Asked why he thought people in Dudley had supported Reform in this way, Longhi replied that "they want change".

"They've had Tory and Labour administrations in the council passing the baton, just as has happened in government," he continued.

"On the doorstep, I remember when I lost my election as a Conservative MP. The message on the doorstep was, 'You're all the same'. They're looking at Reform as that bastion of hope."

The leader of the council's Labour group, Adam Aston, said he was not going to "sugarcoat the result".

But Labour would "vehemently hold to account the decision makers [in Dudley], whoever that is", he added.

Asked if he sensed he would be in opposition and would think of aligning with the largest party, Aston said although he appreciated there were probably "conversations to be had", it would be "very unusual to align ourselves with either the Conservatives or Reform".

"There are parties to our left, but the numbers just don't work. But we've got our annual general meeting of the group tonight where we'll have those discussions."

Aston stated the group found itself "in unchartered territory", as he thought to be the third largest party in Dudley was "unheard of since the creation of the borough".

Council leader Patrick Harley, from the Conservative Party, pointed out the Tories were still the largest group.

Asked if he expected to remain as leader, he replied "absolutely".

"I have the experience to continue to drive the borough forward, but I've also got the experience to do deals and negotiations with those other group leaders," he said.

The Reform UK group on the City of Wolverhampton Council is seven times larger than it was on Friday morning.

Of the 21 seats up for grabs this year, Labour only managed to hold on to six of the 17 seats that it was defending. The Conservatives kept three out of four.

All the remaining victories went to a jubilant Reform UK group, which will now sit in opposition on the council as the second largest party.

The Labour group, which won enough seats to keep its majority, is mourning the loss of 11 "hard working" councillors, including two cabinet members, and reflecting on its worst defeat in years.

"Out of darkness cometh light," said Labour council leader Stephen Simkins, quoting the city's official motto.

"We must focus on the priorities of Wolverhampton, and come back fighting next year."

Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.