Local elections: Power hangs in the balance in crucial Dudley vote
Voters across Dudley will head to the polls next week for a crucial round of local elections.
The balance of power in the borough is on a knife edge, with the Conservatives currently controlling the authority thanks to an alliance with UKIP.
The town is considered a key marginal, and although the reds and the blues will again jostle for leadership, it is the purple party that has been a decisive factor in recent elections.
On May 3 a total of 24 seats are up for grabs – including five of UKIP's six seats on the council – in a poll that could see control change hands yet again.
Labour currently hold 35 seats, the Tories have 28, UKIP has six, and there is one independent councillor.
The Tories will defend seven seats to Labour's 10.
Two seats are vacant. Voters will head to the polls in Coseley East, where UKIP's Star Anderton stood down earlier this year, and Halesowen South, the seat vacated by Conservative Nick Gregory.
The leaders of the two main parties will go before voters.
Tory council leader Councillor Patrick Harley defends his Kingswinford South seat, and Labour group leader Pete Lowe is up for Lye and Stourbridge North.
How UKIP fares will have a significant impact on the overall result. The party's group leader Paul Brothwood, Sedgley councillor Bill Etheridge and Upper Gornal and Woodsetton's Dean Perks are among the UKIP representatives defending their seats.
The election also sees former Mayor and Labour council leader David Sparks step down after four decades in local government.
Several Dudley wards have seen close run battles in recent years.
They include Amblecote, which saw Labour edge out the Tories and UKIP in 2016. In the same round of elections the Tories beat Labour in Belle Vale by just 13 votes, while in Gornal Wood the margin was 27 in favour of the Conservatives.
The last time this set of seats was up for grabs was in 2014, when Labour won 40 seats, the Tories won 22, UKIP took nine seats and the Green Party won one.
Few authorities in the country have seen as much toing and froing as Dudley Council.
In 2004 the Tories gained control for the first time in a decade, ending up with 40 seats to Labour's 25.
Labour won it back in 2012 thanks to a 13 seat swing, but then lost overall control in 2016 and formed an alliance with UKIP.
Last year it was the Tories turn to rely on UKIP support as they returned to power under the leadership of Mr Harley.
