Labour and Conservative battle for Dudley Council ends in TIE (original) (raw)
Political confusion is set to break out in Dudley after Labour lost its lead of the council.
Dudley Council is now a tie - with 36 Labour councillors and 36 Tories.
The council is in no overall control and leadership will be decided at a full council meeting on May 16.
And it was all down to six votes - the difference between the Tories and Labour in the Wollaston & Stourbridge ward, which was the last to announce this morning.
That came after key victories, including in Norton, overturned the Labour majority.
It came amid a disappointing night for Labour in the Black Country.
Dudley Council House. (Image: Dudley Council.)
The Tories had already taken control of Walsall Council and looked like they might seize Dudley before key holds in Brierley Hill and an all-important victory in Halesowen North for Labour.
There was some relief for leader Qadar Zada who held on to his seat in Netherton, Woodside & St Andrew’s.
The town – which is considered a key marginal – saw both political giants fielding full slates for all of the borough's wards.
UKIP also stood 15 candidates in its bid to win back the councillors it lost last year.
The tightly-contested elections saw fierce battles in Coseley East, where UKIP’s Star Anderton stood down earlier this year, and Halesowen South, the seat vacated by Conservative Nick Gregory.
Meanwhile, Tory council leader Councillor Patrick Harley held his Kingswinford South seat.
Several Dudley wards have seen close run battles in the run up to this election.
They include Amblecote, which saw Labour edge out the Tories and UKIP in 2016.
In the same round of elections the Tories beat Labour in Belle Vale by just 13 votes, while in Gornal Wood the margin was 27 in favour of the Conservatives.
The last time this set of seats was up for grabs was in 2014, when Labour won 40 seats, the Tories won 22, UKIP took nine seats and the Green Party won one.
Amblecote
Ellen Cobb (Labour) 781
Ian Flynn (Liberal Democrats) 165
Pete Lee (Conservatives) 1,119
Terry Thorn (UKIP) 597
Belle Vale
Bill McComish (Green Party) 190
Simon Phipps (Conservatives) 1,829
Donella Russell (Labour) 1,049
William Stephenson (Black Country Party) 367
Brierley Hill
Dudley Council local elections 2019 - counting ballot papers (Image: George Makin)
Ridha Ahmed (Labour) 850
Adam Davies (Conservatives) 825
Gordon Elcock (Green Party) 233
Delesh Patel (UKIP) 389
Brockmoor & Pensnett
Rich Colley (UKIP) 414
Sue Greenway (Conservatives) 747
Carolanne Lello (Labour) 712
Garry Sawers (Black Country Party) 341
Castle & Priory
Maurice Archer (Green Party) 174
Martin Day (Libertarian Party) 47
David Donnelly (UKIP) 586
Ken Finch (Labour) 1,125
Richard Tasker (Conservatives) 567
Coseley East
Josef Baker (Conservatives) 549
Peter Drake (Labour) 1,039
Phil Robinson (UKIP) 779
Cradley & Wollescote
Dudley Council local elections 2019 (Image: George Makin)
Richard Body (Labour) 1,180
Mitch Bolton (Black Country Party) 251
James Clinton (Conservatives) 849
Euan Dunn (UKIP) 440
Ryan Priest (Liberal Democrat) 128
Gornal
Karl Denning (Labour) 662
Matt Jones (UKIP) 934
Anne Millward (Conservatives) 1,505
Halesowen North
Gabby Coverson (UKIP) 261
Peter Dobb (Conservatives) 1,155
Stuart Henley (Black Country Party) 805
Parmjit Sahota (Labour) 1,292
Halesowen South
Helen Betts-Patel (Labour) 720
Derek Campbell (Liberal Democrats) 212
Nicholas Gregory (Black Country Party) 512
Alan Taylor (Conservatives) 1,695
Tim Weller (Independent) 140
Hayley Green & Cradley South
Ian Bevan (Conservatives) 1,416
Dean Ford (Black Country Party) 455
John Payne (Green Party) 301
Gwyneth Stewart (Labour) 705
Kingswinford North & Wall Heath
Pam Archer (Green Party) 286
Jonathan Bramall (Liberal Democrats) 207
Jack Downes (Labour) 565
Nicola Richards (Conservatives) 1,975
Kingswinford South
Taryn Bradley (Green Party) 346
Elizabeth Geeves (Liberal Democrats) 194
Marian Howard (Labour) 523
Peter Miller (Conservatives) 1,823
Lye & Stourbridge North
Gary Farmer (Black Country Party) 595
Mohammed Hanif (Labour) 1,355
Alan Lewers (Liberal Democrats) 104
Kamran Razzaq (Conservatives) 596
Lawrence Rowlett (Green Party) 161
Netherton, Woodside & St Andrew’s
Caley Ashman (UKIP) 369
Phil Atkins (Conservatives) 456
Alexander Botten (Liberal Democrats) 52
Mark Robinson (Black Country Party) 378
Alex Wright (Green Party) 165
Qadar Zada (Labour) 1,243
Norton
Mark Binnersley (Green Party) 246
David Powell (UKIP) 317
Heather Rogers (Independent) 568
Karen Shakespeare (Conservatives) 1,500
Elaine Sheppard (Liberal Democrat Focus Team) 353
Andrew Tromans (Labour) 770
Pedmore & Stourbridge East
Simon Hanson (Liberal Democrat) 296
Ian Kettle (Conservatives) 1,760
Catherine Maguire (Green Party) 239
Brian Roe (Labour) 784
Glen Wilson (UKIP) 45
Quarry Bank & Dudley Wood
Christopher Blake (Conservatives) 667
Jackie Cowell (Labour) 713
Dean Horton (UKIP) 424
David Sheppard (Liberal Democrat) 54
Angela Walker (Black Country Party) 370
Sedgley
Stephen Beardsmore (Labour) 760
Tina Westwood (Conservatives) 1,805
St James’s
Cathy Bayton (Labour) 1.094
Claire Bramall (Liberal Democrat) 86
Malcolm Davis (Conservatives) 529
Mick Forsyth (UKIP) 388
Dinesh Patel (Black Country Party) 205
Francis Sheppard (Green Party) 91
St Thomas's
Daniel Archer (Green Party) 180
Shaneila Mughal (Labour) 1,757
Mark Webb (Conservatives) 445
Phil Wimlett (UKIP) 474
Upper Gornal & Woodsetton
Adam Aston (Labour) 988
Damian Corfield (Black Country Party) 856
Jon Turner (Conservatives) 751
Wollaston & Stourbridge Town
Christopher Bramall (Liberal Democrats) 296
Charles Brecknell (UKIP) 323
Steve Clark (Conservatives) 1,437
Cat Eccles (Labour) 1,431
David Hunt (Black Country Party) 330
Kevin Weston (Independent) 79
Wordsley
James Callaghan (Labour) 633
Alexander Home (Liberal Democrats) 161
Matt Rogers (Conservatives) 1,496
Jennifer Slater-Reid (Green Party) 306