Walsall residents still unsure who to back as local elections draw nearer

As the all-out elections in Walsall are just over a week away, people in Bloxwich have shared their thoughts on the upcoming vote.

Election forecasts predict a Reform UK takeover at Walsall Council, but when speaking to people on Bloxwich high street, most felt they didn’t know who to vote for.

Everybody approached by the Local Democracy Reporting Service said their door hasn’t been knocked by a single candidate in recent weeks.

Pelsall resident Kevin Ellis, 66, said: “It’s a nightmare, I don’t know who to vote for because they’re all rubbish. Reform is too extreme. If they get in local council it’ going to be horrendous. They’re too extreme, their ideas are just mad.

“Pelsall is alright, more or less. The Tory leaflet that they sent out, they’re more concerned about keeping green spaces green and not building on them. But we’ve got a rising population, what do you expect to do with the extra people if you don’t build on it. There’s no plan at all.

“I’d like them to sort the roads out and cost of living’s gone mad. I’m lucky, I can cope, but a lot of people are really struggling.”

Forty-year-old Nat Jones, living in the Short Heath ward, said: “I don’t know who to vote for. I don’t know who any of my candidates are. They should have introduced themselves on Facebook or by door knocking.

“I have seen the list for Short Heath but I don’t recognise any of their names. None of them have been on Facebook or doing community things as far as I can see. I work from home and nobody has knocked on my door.

“I just think at the minute, with it being under Conservatives, Walsall has got a very bad name for itself. It feels as though money isn’t spent properly. Residents pay more and more and get less and less every year.

“The big projects look positive in Willenhall and Walsall, they look like they’re moving forward. But I’m a cynic so I have to ask whether they would be at this stage if it wasn’t for the elections? I don’t think so.

“Walsall needs change. The children and adults are so obese, inactivity is off the charts. Economically speaking, it’s so far behind other towns of a similar size.

“I don’t know who to vote for because I like the Green Party but I haven’t heard anything from them at all locally, not even a leaflet. The only leaflet I have received is from the Conservatives but I can’t vote for them because things aren’t good as they are.”

Bloxwich resident Anthony Wood, 64, said the increases in council tax are ‘ridiculous’. He said: “Everything is run down, people don’t have any respect for their surroundings. You see people cleaning up the canals but within a week they’re in the same old mess with people flytipping.

“I don’t think voting for anyone will change it. But I will be voting for a different party. Council tax is just too expensive and putting it up five per cent every year is just ridiculous.

“Especially if you’re on a tight income like a lot of people. They can’t keep just taxing people and taxing people just to pay off interest on debt. I read somewhere that Walsall Council has to pay £12m in interest payments a year. It’s just a waste of money isn’t it? They need to sort the debt out then start again.

“I think the country is ready for change but there isn’t really a change out there that unites people. Nobody knocked on my door, they’re all too embarrassed. They’re all going to get verbal abuse if they do anyway so you can’t blame them can you.”

Courtney Baugh, 27, living in Bloxwich, added: “I don’t know the names of the local election people or who I’d vote for.

“I just don’t want the taxes to go up or living life to get harder, that’s about it. I haven’t received anything, the only thing I’ve read about nursery hours changing so whoever said that I’m voting for them.

“They need to do better at putting themselves out there and have more materials for people to read. If people aren’t interested they’re not going to go out of their way looking for it.”

Finally, Bloxwich resident Jayne Watson, 64, said: “I’m not voting for Greens, not voting for Reform, and not Labour. There’s only one left and that’s the Conservatives.

“The reason for that is because they’re the only ones who have put a leaflet through my door telling me what they’re going to do for the local area. Everybody else is telling me about national politics, not what they’re going to do in the local area.

“I’m basing my voting on what they’re going to do for me locally. When it comes to the general election, then they can tell me what they’re going to do nationally.

“I think things are running quite well. They’re doing a lot of work in King George V Playing Fields where they’re improving it and that’s great because an awful lot of people use it.”

On May 7, polling stations will be open from 7am until 10pm, where voters will have the opportunity to vote for three candidates in their local ward.

Some of the ward boundaries and polling stations have changed following a recent review by the Local Government Boundary Commission. Residents are urged to check their polling card carefully.

To view the full list of candidates, visit the council’s website.