Mosque row leader out
The UKIP councillor who led a protest against plans for an £18 million mosque in Dudley lost his seat as Conservatives retained overall control of Dudley Council.
Malcolm Davis, who organised a 22,000-name petition, lost his seat St James' to Mary Roberts, ending his term as the only UKip councillor.
UKIP had fielded candidates in all 24 borough wards but failed to win a single seat.
Although the Tories lost a ward, they comfortably retained control of the council with an expected overall majority of six seats.
Last night's election results reduced their number of seats to 38 with the votes in one ward still to be counted.
There was confusion in Stourbridge when the Pedmore and Stourbridge East count had to be abandoned when it was discovered 400 postal ballot papers had either been lost or scanned incorrectly.
A recount was expected to take place later today. The ward had been held by Conservative Councillor Ian Kettle.
Despite predictions Labour would suffer at the hands of disillusioned voters, they managed to increase their number of seats by two – to 28 – with a crucial victory in St James', and a win in Lye and Wollescote.
Mr Davis had originally been elected in St James ward as a Liberal Democrat before switching to UKip.
Labour candidate Mohammed Hanif narrowly took control of Lye from John Donegan, who blamed the UKIP turnout for splitting the vote.
The Liberal Democrats still have five seats on the council with their two candidates retaining seats in Kingswinford North and Wall Heath.
The BNP also received more votes than expected, particularly in Coseley East, where more than 1,000 people voted for them.
