Walsall Council: a swing to the right, but it’s still complicated. There may be trouble ahead. Image from my 365days journal.

Well, it was an interesting night at the Walsall council election count last night (Thursday 3rd May 2018) that saw the general collapse of the UKIP vote and it’s return home to the Conservatives, and this was reflected locally with incumbent Brownhills Councillor Steve Craddock, who left UKIP became briefly independent, then stood for the Tories in Brownhills retaining his seat while his fellow ex-UKIP councillors in Walsall lost their seats to Tories.

Walsall Council remains hamstrung, though possibly less so than previously: Effectively, Labour lost two councillors and the Tories gained two (UKIP were always in support of the Tories) – but no overall control remains the state of play. The two independents – both councillors for Darlaston – and the Libdems will be coming under pressure. Expect deals to be done. Infografic from Walsall Council’s local election mini-site.

The council still has no overall control: The Conservatives have 30 seats, with Labour on 26, Liberal Democrats on 2 and Independents on 2. I forecast that Walsall political shenanigans will remain complicated for the foreseeable future.

Congratulations to the winners, commiserations to the losers. Councillor Gary Clare remains missing, presumed a misprint.

You can find full results over at Walsall Council’s Election site here

Brownhills

Aldridge North and Walsall Wood

Pelsall

Aldridge Central and South