Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association branded ‘utter shambles’ as seven councillors given second chance

As previously reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), nine sitting councillors in Walsall were blocked from being candidates by the Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association.

Councillor Vera Waters, ward member for Rushall-Shelfield, said there was no ‘logical explanation’ for the deselections, and Councillor Keith Sears said the association was ‘handing the 2026 elections to Reform on a plate’.

Also deselected were Councillor Gaz Ali (Birchills Leamore), Sarah Cooper (Streetly), Nick Gandham (Paddock), Amo Hussain (Birchills Leamore), Amanda Parkes (Aldridge North and Walsall Wood), Waheed Rasab (Paddock) and Suky Samra (Streetly).

Councillors lodged appeals against the controversial decision before the deadline of August 1, but none of them had heard anything back.

Decisions were finally sent out on Wednesday (October 22), shortly after the LDRS contacted he association for comment.

Seven out of nine appeals were upheld, meaning all but two councillors will get another chance to undergo a Stage 1 interview.

Councillor Rasab and Councillor Ali both had their appeals dismissed.

Alongside the nine sitting councillors, 10 new prospective candidates who were refused also appealed the decision. It is understood that all of those were dismissed.

Councillor Samra, who is currently portfolio holder for street scene at Walsall Council, and Councillor Waters said they have ‘no confidence’ in the Aldridge-Brownhills association to carry out the selection process.

Councillor Samra has long called for the national Conservative Party to intervene. He said: “Until the appeals are finalised, no selections can start.

“We can all accept that next year is going to be very challenging. Therefore, it would be better to have candidates in place sooner rather than later.

“Those who have been approved, they’re frustrated, and rightly so because they want the confirmation so they can start their election campaigns for 2026.

“It’s totally unacceptable. I think it’s diabolical the way that we’ve been treated. It’s been a complete and utter shambles.

“Seven of us have been vindicated, and we’re grateful to the independent assessors. However we still don’t know going forward what the process will be.

“We would like the Conservative Party to take full control of all the selections and take it away from this association.”

Councillor Waters added: “Although we can start the process again, we still have the issues of why this happened in the first place.

“It has now been proven that this decision was wrongful due to process, but the fact still remains: why has it happened in the first place?

“I have no confidence in the Aldridge-Brownhills association to take any further involvement in the process.”

The Conservative Party has not provided a statement, stating that it does not comment on internal party matters.

The Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association has been approached for comment.