Labour was 'kept in dark' over calling of pointless council by-election

Councillor Aftab Nawaz said neither the local or national Labour Party were notified in advance that a by-election would be called for the vacant seat in Pleck in December.

The poll descended into farce when winning Labour candidate Simran Cheema was unable to take up the role of councillor as she had been employed by the authority’s library service at the time of her nomination.

Tories in the borough say the episode has left the council looking "stupid" and have demanded the national Labour Party stump up the £20,000 cost for holding the ballot.

It is understood that Councillor Nawaz and Conservative leader Mike Bird had agreed that the Pleck seat should remain vacant until the council elections in May.

Mr Nawaz said the by-election had been called against his wishes by "two individuals" – one of whom Mr Bird says is Walsall South MP Valerie Vaz.

"The people of Pleck had a chance to choose between a Conservative or nothing and they chose nothing. They chose not to be represented rather than not be represented by a Conservative. That was their choice.

“But the Pleck branch of the Labour Party wasn’t aware of this election being called, they weren’t informed or notified about it.

"Walsall South CLP weren't informed, notified or consulted. The Labour group was not informed or consulted. The West Midlands regional party wasn’t informed, nor was the national party.

“There were two individuals who called the election. They called it correctly without any consultation with us. That isn’t good and we weren’t happy about it."

Mr Bird said the council had been left "looking stupid to say the least".

He said: “Why would you have a by-election a few weeks before the election was due to be held for the gentleman who sadly passed away?

“What a damn waste of time, money, effort and indeed misleading the people of the Pleck ward thinking they are going to go out and cast their vote and they’re going to get somebody elected to represent them.

“Well, it didn’t happen did it? Because the candidate wasn’t valid."

He added: "You say to me we’ve got to encourage people to vote, well you tell me one reason why the people of Pleck should go out and vote again? It was appalling.

“We hear all the time about the cuts we’re having to make and the savings we’re having to make.

“Well, there’s 20-odd grand there that somebody should be paying back into the coffers of this council and that is the national Labour Party.”

The Pleck seat became vacant following the death of deputy mayor Harbans Singh Sarohi.

At a full council meeting, a motion was passed calling on Labour to reimburse the costs of hosting the election.