Tory MP calls for inspectors to oversee Sandwell vote counts after 'Labour bias'
A Conservative MP has called for independent inspectors to oversee future elections in Sandwell after claims that officers were "biased" in polls held in May.
Nicola Richards, who was a counting agent at the elections for the region's mayor and police and crime commissioner, said she was "frankly appalled" at how biased presiding officers were at the count.
She said votes which should have been thrown out were counted for Labour, including one paper where the only mark was the party emblem "scribbled out".
Both elections went to a second round of voting. Conservative Andy Street won the mayoral election despite losing in Sandwell by more than 6,000 votes, while Labour's Simon Foster won the PCC election, finishing around 13,500 votes ahead in the borough.
Ms Richards, the MP for West Bromwich East, detailed her complaints in a letter to the Electoral Commission.
She wrote: "I was quite frankly appalled at how biased the presiding officers were when conducting themselves at the count.
