Elections looming as Dudley campaigners hit the streets
Dudley councillors are hitting the streets canvassing for local elections in May when voters will have their say on who runs the borough.
The authority has 72 councillors with three representatives in each of its 24 constituencies which are called wards.
On Thursday May 7, 2026, voters will decide who will be those councillors with a third of the seats scheduled to be on ballot papers.
The council is currently run by the Conservative Party which has the most elected members but requires support from other councillors to win votes because the Tories do not have an outright majority.
The council is made up of 33 Conservative councillors, 24 from Labour, six Black Country Party members, five Liberal Democrats, three from Reform UK and one independent.
In May, along with nine Conservative seats to be defended, Labour will also defend nine seats, there will be three Black Country Party seats on the ballot papers, one Reform UK seat and independent Stuart Turner’s seat will also be up for grabs.
The number of seats to be filled could also include councillors who are not scheduled to stand in 2026 but who stand down, or if a councillor dies.
Many midlands authorities will see all seats in the council chamber up for grabs in elections referred to as ‘all out’.
All out elections are usually called after changes to ward boundaries, which are redrawn to level up population size in electoral areas.
Dudley’s last round of elections, in 2024, were ‘all out’ following a boundary review by the Local Government Boundary Commission.
There were no Dudley Council elections in 2025, councillors generally serve a four-year term before their seat comes up for election again which means, usually, there are elections in Dudley in three out of every four years.
Election procedure is governed by the Electoral Commission which sets the timetable for the process leading up to polling day, for this year’s election in Dudley candidates must be nominated by 4pm on April 9.
