Former Conservative councillor joins Green Party - doubling numbers on Sandwell Council
The Green Party has doubled its number of councillors on Sandwell Council after former Conservative councillor William Gill joined its ranks.
Great Bridge Councillor William Gill was elected for the Conservatives in 2021 but will be standing for the Greens in May's crucial all out elections in Sandwell.
The 23-year-old said: “I’m so pleased to be part of the party that is offering a real, positive alternative for the people of Sandwell.”
Explaining his journey from the representing the Tories under Boris Johnson to joining the left leaning environmentalists, Councillor Gill said: “At the time, the Tories were the only serious challenge to the Labour administration."
Eschewing the populist policies of Kemi Badenoch, Councillor Gill left the party he had joined as a child last November.
He said: "I went Independent when it became clear that their policies (as well as Labour’s) were moving ever further away from what is needed for a thriving and cohesive community in Sandwell.
"It’s great that Sandwell now has a strong and growing Green Party, which feels like my natural home. I will continue to be an exceptionally hard working councillor for Great Bridge.”
Gill is the second sitting councillor to join Sandwell's Greens in two years. Cradley Heath and Old Hill Councillor John Tipper won two elections for the party he called home since cutting his teeth organising as a teenager.
Councillor Tipper joined the Greens in February 2025 and quickly began preparing the party for May's elections, in which the party plans to stand in every seat.
Councillor Tipper welcomed his new colleague after being impressed with the Great Bridge councillor's previous willingness to put people before politics.
He said: “I have worked well with Will and other councillors to get better outcomes for Sandwell, and now we will be even better able to do so.”
Elected councillors joining the Greens is becoming more frequent ahead of May's local elections with the party polling in first place with under-65s. Under Zack Polanski's leadership the party's victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election added another Green MP to their team at Westminster.
Aldo Mussi, Co-ordinator of Sandwell Green Party, said “I’m delighted to have Will join our busy and growing team. The national increase in members and voting intention for the Greens is also happening here in Sandwell, and we’re ready to offer something better for Sandwell people in the May elections.”
Labour's stranglehold on Sandwell Council could finally be broken this May as voters will be electing all 72 councillors at one time. Previously, elections three out of four years would favour the governing party.
