New political group formed ahead of Walsall local elections

Walsall Community Independents was launched by the former leader of the Labour group Councillor Aftab Nawaz.

Councillor Nawaz was one of six labour councillors who quit the group in November 2023 over Keir Starmer’s stance on Gaza.

Since then they have operated as independent councillors but last month launched the official Walsall Community Independents group.

Councillor Nawaz said the group was needed to distinguish its members from others standing independently who have different policies and ideologies.

Walsall Council has seen a surge in independent councillors over the last 12 months.

Various upsets in the Conservative group have led to eight resignations, with six of them now serving as independents.

And a further three councillors resigned from the Labour group since the initial six left, who all served independently.

Councillor Nawaz said: “There’s all out elections and many independent candidates.

“We created Walsall Community Independents so people don’t push all independents together.

“Anyone can stand as an independent and, for example, if Councillor Eardley decided to stand as an independent, he’s totally the opposite of who we are politically.

“We wanted to ensure people understand they’re voting for a certain political thinking and agenda, to change Walsall for the better by making it more progressive, caring and supporting of its residents.”

Unlike other political groups at the authority, members of Walsall Community Independents do not have to vote on issues in line with their leader.

Councillor Nawaz said: “We come together and decide which direction we want to go but we don’t force it on everyone.

“It’s not a three line whip that you would have in the Labour or Conservative party. And we certainly don’t have anybody from London telling us what to do.”

There are currently 15 Walsall Community Independent candidates ready to stand ahead of the local elections in May, where all 60 seats are contested.

Councillor Nawaz hopes to have candidates for at least 50 per cent of all seats across the borough.

The group has outlined several proposed policies including bringing housing stock back under the ownership and management of Walsall Council, rather than registered social landlords such as WHG.

They also want to have the town centre market relocated back to High Street, reintroduce the Illuminations at Walsall Arboretum that finished in 2008, and put a stop to the relocation of the Leather Museum.

The group’s logo is a car to represent their campaign slogan ‘vehicle for change’.

Councillor Nawaz said: “This is a party that is from Walsall, cares about Walsall and wants to make Walsall better.

“We want to bring in Walsall Council housing, we want to have a market back up the hill, look at bringing the Walsall illuminations back and more importantly we want to look at how we get more youth services and services for our elderly people out there.

“We want to look after the culture and heritage of Walsall, and if we can somehow stop the museum building being given to the college, we would stop it.”