The new balance of Walsall Council. Interestingly, the Tories lost seats and so did the Liberal Democrats; Labour took 2 but the sand in the vaseline is UKIP with 3. There remain 3 independents. Graphic from Walsall Council’s results page.
For the full results, got to the Walsall Council Election 2014 page.
It’s been a remarkable night for Walsall politics – but it’s a brave person that calls a Walsall result.
In a shock result, UKIPs Steve Craddock Took Brownhills, and UKIP candidates also took Willenhall North and Short Heath.
Brownhills, you disappoint me…
Despite gaining two seats – Rushall Shelfield and the hotly contested St. Matthews – Labour failed to take overall control.
It’s fair to say the Tories took a real hammering, and the Lib Dems must now be facing a somewhat sobering reality. I think Ian Shire’s chickens are coming home to roost…
In pretty much all wards contested, UKIP put sitting councillors under pressure – I think Anthony Harris’s arse cheeks must have been quite clenched during the count.
Aldridge North and Walsall Wood
Cooke David Andrew – UK Independence Party (UKIP) – 1041
Grainger Bob – Labour Party Candidate – 766
Greveson Mark Robert – Liberal Democrat – 126
Harris Anthony David – Conservative Party Candidate – 1272**
Brownhills
Aston Vivienne Joy – Conservative Party Candidate – 730
Craddock Stephen Roy – UK Independence Party (UKIP) – 1251**
Davies Lauren Marie – Labour Party Candidate – 875
This means the council is now split 30-30, councillor numbers being (previous totals in brackets)
30 (28) Labour
21 (24) Conservative
3 (0) UKIP
3 (5) Liberal Democrat
2 (2) Independent
1 (1) ‘Democratic Labour’ (Pete Smith party)
I would expect Labour will form the council, but any votes will get very interesting. This is one to watch – this was a poor result for Labour; just one more seat could have seen them take control. With the Tories previously supported by Liberal Democrats and independents, it’s likely UKIP will side with them also. I fear deadlocked days lie ahead.
Congratulations to the winners, commiserations to the losers. What happens next will be very interesting indeed. One thing’s for sure, Walsall politics is never, ever dull.
I’d like to thank the folk behind the social media face of Walsall Council last night who gave a brilliant service in keeping folk informed, and also all the folk staffing the polling stations and undertaking the count. Cheers.