Tories lose majority at Walsall Council as another councillor resigns
The Conservative group has lost its majority in Walsall after a further councillor resignation.
Councillor Keith Sears, ward member for Aldridge North and Walsall Wood, has quit the party in a row over the upcoming local elections.
The Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association, the body responsible for choosing candidates ahead of elections, stopped Councillor Sears from standing.
He was one of nine Tory councillors at Walsall Council who were not approved by the association for the all-out elections in May.
The unprecedented decision was heavily criticised by Conservative councillors at Walsall Council.
Councillor Sears appealed the decision and was offered a second selection interview, but didn’t turn as he ‘knew’ the outcome would be the same.
Councillor Sears, who recently celebrated 50-years of unbroken service to the authority, described the association as having a ‘death wish’.
He said: “The association has ruined Aldridge. Aldridge Brownhills is dead as a Conservative constituency. If I don’t win, Reform will win. It’s as simple as that.
“It is as if they’ve got a death wish, it’s the only way I can put it, as if they want to destroy it. They just want their own people in.”
Councillor Sears is the eighth councillor to resign from the Conservative group in the last 12 months.
His resignation has resulted in the Conservatives losing its overall majority with just 30 out of 60 on the council now.
Councillor Sears said he will continue to support the Conservative group at Walsall Council as an independent member, and will stand as an independent in May.
He said: “I’ll still be looking after residents’ interests like I’ve always done. That’s why they kept voting me back in.
“The top priority is preserving our green belt. We got a proposed development in Stonnall Road for hundreds of houses and I’m going to fight that.”
A spokesperson for the Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association said: “I would like to thank Keith Sears for his service.
“However, there was a properly constituted selection process and having failed to be selected in the first round Councillor Sears was given the right of appeal.
“Councillor Sears was allowed to go before an independent panel drawn from Conservative members across the country, sadly Councillor Sears failed to attend the interview.”
The Conservative Party has been approached for comment.
