Party leaders make their pitch to Express & Star readers ahead of this week's local elections

On Thursday the people of Cannock Chase, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton go to the polls in what looks likely to be the biggest test of public opinion since the General Election two years ago.

The polls are doubly important in the West Midlands, because they will not only provide the first real measure of how the parties are performing in what are traditionally bellwether areas that are crucial to determining the outcome of the next General Election - they could also potentially see Reform take control of their first councils in major metropolitan authorities.

A total of 191 seats are up for grabs, with ‘all-up’ elections in both Sandwell and Walsall, which mean every seat on those authorities will be up for election.

Cannock Chase, Dudley and Wolverhampton Councils will see a third of their seats up for election, although in each case there will be one extra seat due to the resignation of an existing member.

Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, and Reform’s Nigel Farage, along with Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey and the Green Party’s Zack Polanski all make their case to Express & Star readers ahead of Thursday’s poll.

Writing exclusively for the Express & Star, Mr Farage says that only Reform can deliver the change needed in the Black Country, after decades of stagnation under the traditional main parties. He attacked the salaries of the chief executives of Wolverhampton, Sandwell and Walsall Council, saying they earned considerably more than the Prime Minister.

Sir Keir points to Labour’s record in office, claiming that it has finally put the NHS back on its feet after years of neglect under the Conservatives. He says waiting lists are falling, an extra 2,000 more GPs recruited and an extra five million NHS appointments provided. He says 166 primary schools across the West Midlands had opened free breakfast clubs, while 200,000 children in the area would benefit from the abolition of the two-child benefit cap.

Mrs Badenoch stresses that today’s Conservative Party is very different from the one that was last in government. She says Conservatives are focused on providing safer streets, thriving high streets and councils that give value for money. She says the party is committed to getting rid of business rates for thousands of shops, pubs and cafes, recruiting 10,000 extra police officers, and making offenders clean up the damage they caused.

Sir Ed says Liberal Democrats will focus on basic services, such as fixing potholes, securing more visible community policing, and ensuring bins are collected on time. He criticises the performance of the NHS, saying that it is failing to meet the needs of patients.

Mr Polanski says that while the traditional parties promised to improve things, they merely ‘tinkered around the edges’ and failed to come up with radical solutions to the problems people face. He says the Greens were committed to investing in warm and affordable homes, cutting energy bills permanently while tackling the climate crisis head-on.

Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party

The West Midlands is a proud region. And it has a lot to be proud of. People here work hard, play by the rules, and do the right thing.

But for too many families here and across the country, that isn't enough. Rising prices at the shops and the cost of energy bills have become a daily worry. I hear it wherever I go.

That's been true for too long, and now we're seeing even more pressure on the cost of living given the conflict in Iran. I’ve been clear from the start that this is not our war, and that we won't be dragged into it. But it is still disrupting supply chains, driving up energy prices and putting pressure on family finances here in Britain.

That’s why my government’s core focus remains on making life easier for families in the West Midlands and doing what we can to ease the cost of living.

We’ve cut energy bills by over £100, we’ve increased the minimum wage, we’re delivering 30 hours free childcare and we’re raising the state pension.

We’re also making sure we get our NHS back on its feet after years of Tory neglect. Already, we’ve delivered over five million extra NHS appointments and we’ve hired 2,000 more GPs - and waiting lists have come down and they'll keep coming down.

We’re also making sure the next generation has the best start in life, with 166 free breakfast clubs opening in local primary schools across the West Midlands, and 200,000 children set to benefit because we’ve abolished the cruel two child limit.

We’ve been able to do this because we have the right plan. Not the anger offered by Farage’s Reform, or the wrong answers offered by the Green Party.

This week’s local elections will decide who will run many of the local services you rely on. Reform have shown they can’t run local councils. They promised to cut taxes and cut waste but they’ve put up council tax and cut local services instead. They’ve brought chaos to the places that elected them last year.

As for the Greens, we know they have the wrong answers to the issues local communities face. You can’t fund public services with more borrowing, make our streets safer by legalising all drugs, or respond to global insecurity by leaving Nato. They’re just not serious.

Moments like the one we are living through need to be met with hope, rather than anger and division. The hope of an NHS where waiting lists are coming down – and they are. The hope of a country where people’s wages are rising – and they are. And the hope of a country where poverty is being slashed and our children have a better future – and it is.

That’s the future my Labour Government is building. Together, by standing up for every part of our communities, we can ease the pressure families are facing, fix our NHS and restore pride in every part of our great country. Vote Labour on Thursday May 7.

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party

A vote for the Conservatives on May 7 is a vote for a party that supports hardworking people, backs business, and wants to make government work for you here in the West Midlands.

The Conservative Party you see today is different to the one that lost the last election. Under my leadership the Conservative party has changed. We have recognised where we went wrong and we are using our time in opposition to ensure we have the strong team and the plans to make sure we do not make the same mistakes again.

I know what my principles are, and I know what it means to be a Conservative. And everyone who stands for us knows and believes the same.

Across Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley and West Bromwich, people are telling us the same thing. They want safer streets, thriving high streets and councils that deliver value for money.

That is what Conservatives deliver.

That is why the Conservative Party has set out clear plans to back people who work hard and do the right thing.

That means a future Conservative Government will abolish business rates for thousands of high street shops, cafes and pubs, the backbone of places from Dudley to Walsall.

It means we will scrap stamp duty on the family home.

It also means we will cut families’ energy bills by £200 through our Cheap Power Plan, drilling our own oil and gas in the North Sea and scrapping the green taxes.

We will also take back our streets.

Too many communities have seen crime and antisocial behaviour become the norm. So, our plan is for 10,000 more police, tougher enforcement and real consequences. Offenders will clean up the damage they cause.

We will also invest in skills and apprenticeships, giving young people in the West Midlands the chance to build careers and helping local businesses find the workers they need.

And we know how we will pay for all this. Our plan is backed by £47 billion in savings.

We will make sure that those who can work, do work. We will cut the civil service back to a sustainable size and end bloated bureaucracy.

These are the right decisions. By cutting spending we can bring down taxes, back business and support families without asking people to pay more.

Because where other parties are in charge, the result is clear. You get higher taxes and worse services.

The West Midlands deserves better. On May 7, vote Conservative to Get Britain Working Again.

Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK

Britain is broken. As someone who loves their country, that is not something I say lightly.

But it is undoubtedly true.

Of all the complaints I’ve heard travelling from town to town over the past 18 months, there is one phrase I hear over and over: Nothing seems to work anymore.

Nowhere is that sentiment felt more strongly than at local council level.

Just look around you: Bins are overflowing, schools are struggling and our roads are pockmarked with potholes.

Meanwhile, our neighbourhoods are over-run with crime.

Yet despite all this, council tax bills continue to go up.

In the West Midlands, council tax has increased by 25 per cent in many areas over the past five years.

It’s not hard to see why.

Wolverhampton’s CEO earns £205,000 a year — £35,656 more than the Prime Minister — to oversee this mess. In Sandwell, the CEO takes home £201,566, and in Walsall, £193,661.

That’s alongside another 54 council staff across these authorities all earning over £100,000 a year.

Thanks to both Labour and the Tories maladministration, Wolverhampton, Sandwell and Walsall have run up a combined £1.6 billion worth of debt. That’s costing over £78 million a year just in interest.

But then are you that surprised when Sandwell has spent £50,000 just on translators and given £415,000 to the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association for ‘Resettlement, Asylum and Refugee Support’.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Walsall managed to waste £214,000 a year on vehicle leasing for employee benefits and £400,000 on a ‘Digital Smoking Cessation Service’.

Violent crime is everywhere - there were over 35,883 incidents in these areas over the past year.

It really doesn’t have to be this way.

Last year, Reform UK won hundreds of council seats and already we’re seeing the positive impact the party is having in those areas.

Which is why I am embarking on a national tour to let voters know how you can fix this country.

Because we can’t do this without you. We urgently need your help.

Just remember: Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems tried to stop these local elections happening.

They wanted them cancelled because they know that voters are desperate to give them a kicking.

So now is your chance to do so.

Let’s send Starmer and the rest of the Westminster establishment a clear message.

The turquoise tsunami is coming.

Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats

As I travel across the country, visiting towns and villages in the West Midlands, I hear the exact same thing time and time again. People are utterly exhausted.

In Birmingham, people are tired of a Labour party that has done nothing but break promises.

The Labour-run council has consistently let down residents by failing to resolve the bin strikes that have been plaguing residents for more than a year.

People are demanding change, but Reform are not the answer. Nigel Farage wants to bring Trump-style politics to our local councils, which will only sow more division on our doorsteps.

By voting for the Liberal Democrats in the local elections, you can elect hardworking local champions who will always put your community first.

For too long, the Conservatives have mismanaged our economy and neglected our vital public services. Families are still wrestling with the cost-of-living crisis, anxious about paying the bills and keeping the heating on.

Meanwhile, our National Health Service is being stretched to breaking point. Too many people are waiting weeks just to see a GP or register with an NHS dentist. As someone who has been a carer for most of my life, I know firsthand exactly how broken our social care system has become, leaving vulnerable people without the dignified support they desperately need.

We also know that getting the basics right matters. Whether it is fixing the endless plague of potholes ruining our roads, securing more visible community policing to tackle anti-social behaviour, or ensuring your bins are collected on time, Liberal Democrats believe that strong local government changes lives.

Our councillors work tirelessly all year round, listening to your concerns and fighting your corner.

You deserve a fair deal. You deserve representatives who listen, care, and act. This May, send a resounding message that you demand better. Vote for a hardworking local champion. Vote for the Liberal Democrats.

Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party

The West Midlands is at a crossroads. The choices we make now will define our future for decades.

For too long, politics here has been dominated by short-term thinking and tired promises. Communities all across the Black Country and the region have heard it all before: pledges to “level up,” to fix transport, to revive high streets.

Yet everybody can see clearly that, while there's been a bit of tinkering around the edges, there's been no meaningful change. At the same time, our entire system tells you that you have to accept either the same two parties or Nigel Farage's usual politics of grievance.

At these elections, this all changes. The Green Party offers something different. Not just a change of faces, but a change of priorities.

We will invest in warm and affordable homes, cutting energy bills permanently while tackling the climate crisis head-on. Greens in power in councils elsewhere show us this is possible - building good quality eco-friendly council homes and backing community-led housing schemes. Many of our neighbours at the moment are forced to choose between heating and eating, but it doesn’t have to be like this. This is a political choice.

We will rebuild local economies so wealth stays in the Black Country and the West Mids. That means backing small businesses, creating secure green jobs ideal for the area's industrial skill base and heritage, and bringing key services back into public hands where they belong.

When buses are run for people, not profit, routes improve and fares fall. Greens councillors will push to bring our buses back into public control, and look to connect areas that are poorly served.And we will clean up our air and protect our green spaces. No child should grow up breathing toxic air. No community should lose its parks and nature to short-sighted development. This isn’t just about health, dignity, and fairness. It’s about community and how we build better ones.

But this election is about more than policies. It’s about trust. Trust that has been eroded by so many politicians over so many years. They want representatives who will speak honestly, act boldly, and stand up for their communities. A vote for the Greens is a vote to break the cycle. It’s a vote for a fairer, affordable economy. It’s a vote for a healthier environment. It’s a vote for a politics that actually works for you, not some party donor.Across the West Midlands, change is not just possible, it’s essential. This Thursday, don’t settle for anything less. Vote Green.