Reform take 22 seats in Dudley taking seats from political rivals

Reform UK delivered hammer blows to their political rivals in the Dudley local election night beyond their wildest dreams.

Reform UK delivered hammer blows to their political rivals in the Dudley local election night beyond their wildest dreams.

The overnight election count in Stourbridge left Labour and the Conservatives wounded by losses which resulted in Reform gaining 22 seats on Dudley council on the night, taking their overall tally on the authority to 23. 

Labour dropped from 23 to 15 seats on the council while the Tories lost six seats but remained the largest group on the council with 27 seats. 

The Liberal Democrats lost one councillor to Reform and were left with four elected members while the Black Country Party saw three of their councillors removed, leaving them with a group of three in the council chamber.

Cllr Marco Longhi, Reform’s Dudley chairman, said: “I am absolutely elated, I was coming in thinking if we get 15 out of the available 25 I would be a very happy man, 22 is amazing.

“Every single Reform councillor will put the people of Dudley first, we will be fighting for every single person in Dudley whether they voted for us or not.”

One of the big winners in a dramatic night of results was Cllr Shaun Keasey who, despite already being a member of the authority, won his first election as a Reform candidate.

Cllr Keasey won in Sedgley with 55.7 percent of the vote, fending off a challenge from Conservative big-hitter Bill Etheridge who polled 21 percent.

Speaking just before the final results were declared, Cllr Keasey said: “Thank you to the people of Sedgley who voted for me, if you looked at the polls before we came into the hall tonight they were telling us we were going to get everything, that’s totally unrealistic in my opinion.

“We could finish the night with 20 or 21 seats, that’s absolutely amazing.”

Cllr Keasey believes voters like Reform’s straight talking style, he said: “We’re different, we say what we think, we say what we believe and we go out there and talk to people and get things done.”

The Conservative Party held two seats and group leader, Cllr Patrick Harley, believes national politics played its part in local loses.

He said: “I cast my mind back to 2006 when David Cameron became party leader, we had a big bounce then nationally and did well on Dudley Council elections, likewise with the Boris bounce and tonight we have been on the opposite end of a bounce, it’s not gone our way.”

Despite the rise of Reform, with just a third of the council’s seats up for grabs  Cllr Harley looks likely to continue as the leader of a minority administration but he will need to adapt to a much changed line-up in the chamber.

He said: “Over the years I have gone through many transformations on this authority and I am confident we will still form the next administration and carry on moving this borough in the right direction.

“I’m sure I can work with any party that wants to put sensible proposals forward.”

Cllr Longhi made it clear what he thinks people want from their council, he said: “Council tax – we need to keep it as low as possible, roads they can drive on, and they want to have their rubbish collected, it really is that simple. 

“We, as the main opposition, are going to be holding this administration to account.”