Dudley Council local election preview: Power hangs in the balance

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.

24 seats

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.

Key battle grounds

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.

Both Labour and the Conservatives believe they can capitalise on UKIP’s collapse on a national level, which saw the party lose all of its seats that went before voters in last year’s council elections.

UKIP has had another change of leadership since then, with Henry Bolton unceremoniously booted out, but members of the Dudley group believe they still have significant support in the town.

Mr Harley said he is confident that his party can ‘mop up’ UKIP votes, but Labour will take heart from Ian Austin’s narrow win in Dudley North in last year’s general election.

The election also sees former mayor and Labour council leader David Sparks step down after four decades in local government.

Recent history

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 to-ing and fro-ing 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.

Last year the Tories relied on UKIP support as they returned to power under the leadership of Mr Harley.

Dudley Council - full list of candidates

*Party holding seat

Amblecote

Paul Bradley (Cons)*

Barbara Deeley (UKIP)

Peter Drake (Lab)

Ian Flynn (Lib Dem)

Belle Vale

Ian Cooper (Lab)*

Jake Cooper (Cons)

Bill McComish (Green)

Brierley Hill

Phil Atkins (Cons)

John Dyer (Democrats and Veterans)

Gordon Elcock (Green)

Zaraf Islam (Lab)*

Terry Thorn (UKIP)

Brockmoor and Pensnett

Clare Bramall (Lib Dem)

Rich Colley (UKIP)

Judy Foster (Lab)*

Sue Greenaway (Cons)

Castle and Priory

Martin Day (UKIP)

Alan Finch (Lab)*

Ryan Priest (Lib Dem)

Richard Tasker (Cons)

Coseley East – vacant

Josef Baker (Cons)

Bec Gentle (Lab)

Karen Jones (UKIP)

Catherine Maguire (Green)

Cradley and Wollescote

Pam Archer (Green)

Mitchell Bolton (UKIP)

Tim Crumpton (Lab)*

Kamran Razzaq (Cons)

Gornal

Mitch Barlow (Green)

Dave Branwood (Lab)

Bryn Challenor (Cons)

Roger Scott-Dow (UKIP)*

Halesowen North

Lois Bramall (Lib Dem)

Stuart Henley (UKIP)*

Joe Roberts (Cons)

Parmjit Sahota (Lab)

Halesowen South – vacant

Ray Burston (Cons)

Derek Campbell (Lib Dem)

James Walker (Lab)

Hayley Green & Cradley South

Andrea Goddard (Cons)*

Delesh Patel (UKIP)

John Payne (Green)

Donella Russell (Lab)

Kingswinford North and Wall Heath

Jonathan Bramall (Lib Dem)

Damian Corfield (Lab)

Edward Lawrence (Cons)*

Kingswinford South

Taryn Bradley (Green)

Jay Griffiths (Lab)

Patrick Harley (Cons)*

Lye and Stourbridge North

Naz Ahmed (Green)

Euan Dunn (UKIP)

Pete Lowe (Lab)*

Thomas Ruff (Cons)

Netherton, Woodside and St Andrew’s

Martin Berrington (Cons)

Dean Horton (UKIP)

Elaine Taylor (Lab)*

Alex Wright (Green)

Norton

Christopher Bramall (Lib Dem)

Colin Elcock (Cons)*

Monika Narad (Lab)

David Powell (UKIP)

Pedmore and Stourbridge East

Jon Dean (Lab)

Simon Hanson (Lib Dem)

Angus Lees (Cons)*

Glen Wilson (UKIP)

Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood

Chris Barnett (Lab)*

Chris Blake (Cons)

Lee Taylor (Lib Dem)

Angela Walker (UKIP)

Sedgley

Bill Etheridge (UKIP)*

Mushtaq Hussain (Lab)

Shaun Keasey (Cons)

Elaine Sheppard (Lib Dem)

St James’s

Khurshid Ahmed (Lab)*

Malcolm Davis (Cons)

Mick Forsyth (UKIP)

Benjamin France (Lib Dem)

St Thomas’s

Jonathan Elliott (Cons)

Francis Sheppard (Green)

Steve Waltho (Lab)*

Phil Wimlett (UKIP)

Upper Gornal and Woodsetton

Lynette Corfield (Lab)

Chris Neale (Cons)

Dean Perks (UKIP)*

Kelly Richards (Green)

Wollaston & Stourbridge Town

Nicholas Barlow (Cons)*

Harriet Foster (Lab)

Andi Mohr (Green)

Wordsley

Kevin Billingham (Lab)

Paul Brothwood (UKIP)*

Donna Harley (Cons)

David Sheppard (Lib Dem)