Wolverhampton local election results: Labour increases majority
In Wolverhampton Labour strengthened its already strong grip on the city council.
The party took Spring Vale ward, after UKIP councillor and former mayor Malcolm Gwinnett stood down, and also gained Penn off the Conservatives, meaning Labour has 51 seats to the Conservatives' nine.
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No other parties are represented on the authority and there are no independent councillors.
Asha Mattu, the widow of the late Mayor Councillor Elias Mattu, successfully won his seat in Graiseley.
Meanwhile Barbara McGarrity, mother of Blue Beter presenter Radzi Chinyanganya, was elected to the Spring Vale ward.
Council leader Roger Lawrence, said: “It’s got to be a good night for us. We made two gains and held every seat we defended.
“The Conservatives are in a bit of a mess. They don’t have many members and Windrush has certainly not helped them, or the apparent disunity in the Conservative party nationally.
“I’m getting a lot of very talented new members with a lot of experience working in the community and I’m optimistic we will bond together to make a strong political group for the future.”
Opposition Tory leader Wendy Thompson said her party’s disappointing performance was ‘affected by selecting some candidates quite late’.
She said: “There’s a saying: You can’t fatten a pig on market day.
“Some of these very small margins would have turned to our advantage if we had selected earlier.
"Where there was good planning and good organisation, we did well, such as Merry Hill where we increased our majority.
“It shows the importance of councillors being representatives of their community.
“Next year we will work harder on winning over the UKIP vote.”
Wolverhampton council results - ward by ward
What happened: Labour gained two seats to increase its majority.
Political make-up: Labour control (Lab – 51; Cons – 9)
Turnout: 28 per cent
* Party previously holding seat
Bilston East (Lab hold)
Tom Fellows (UKIP) – 290
Stephen Simkins (Lab)* – 1,327
Gillian Timms (Cons) – 423
Bilston North (Lab hold)
Terry Hancox (Green) – 110
Simon Hibell (Cons) – 547
Phil Page (Lab)* – 1,333
Blakenhall (Lab hold)
Sera Aulakh (Cons) – 838
Patrick Bentley (Lib Dem) – 168
Jasbinder Dehar (Lab)* – 2,105
Bushbury North (Lab hold)
Alan Butt (Lab)* – 1,143
Carole Jenkins (Lib Dem) – 96
Neville Patten (Cons) – 1,079
Michelle Webster (Green) – 96
Bushbury South & Low Hill (Lab hold)
Alan Bamber (Lib Dem) – 113
Jennifer Brewer (Cons) – 431
Paul Sweet (Lab)* – 1,278
East Park (Lab hold)
Steve Hall (Indep) – 249
Keith Inston (Lab)* – 1,208
Suria Photay (Cons) – 353
Ettingshall (Lab hold)
Adam Ansari (Cons) – 398
Beverley Momenabadi (Lab)* – 2,306
David Murray (Lib Dem) – 200
Fallings Park (Lab hold)
Steve Evans (Lab)* – 1,247
Josh Moreton (Cons) – 639
Peter Nixon (Lib Dem) – 122
Graiseley (two seats – both Lab hold)
Kathryn Ball (Lib Dem) – 187
Amy Bertaut (Green) – 232
Kamran Khan (Cons) – 717
Bryan Lewis (Lib Dem) – 156
Asha Mattu (Lab)* – 1,926
Safyaan Salim (Cons) – 619
Jacqueline Sweetman (Lab)* – 1,775
Heath Town (Lab hold)
Caroline Siarkiewcz (Lab) – 1,154
Fortune Sibanda (Cons) – 584
Merry Hill (Cons hold)
Simon Bennett (Cons)* – 1,622
Wayne O’Brien (Lab) – 1,299
Nirmal Singh (Lib Dem) – 125
Oxley (two seats – both Lab hold)
Leyla Abbes (Liberal Democrat) – 190
Ian Jenkins (Liberal Democrat) – 272
Andrew McNeil (Cons) – 771
Sue Roberts (Lab)* – 1,221
Zahid Shah (Cons) – 585
Clare Simm (Lab) – 1,105
Helen Tudor (Green) – 155
Park (Lab hold)
David Belcher (Green) – 192
Craig Collingswood (Lab)* – 1,745
Nick Machnik-Foster (Lib Dem) – 168
Dan Preston (Cons) – 711
Penn (Lab gain)
Celia Hibbert (Lab) – 1,823
Peter Hollis (Lib Dem) – 173
David MacKintosh (Cons)* – 1,802
Spring Vale (Lab gain)
Ajaz Ali (Cons) – 665
Barbara McGarrity (Lab) – 1,469
St Peter’s (Lab hold)
Obaida Ahmed (Lab)* – 1,717
Natasha Allmark (Lib Dem) – 94
Rachel Arnold (Green) – 145
Mahammed Sohaib (Cons) – 356
Tettenhall Regis (Cons hold)
Julian Donald (Lib Dem)– 220
Sohail Khan (Cons)* – 1,588
Chester Morrison (Lab) – 1,120
Clive Wood (Green) – 120
Tettenhall Wightwick (Cons hold)
Andrea Cantrill (Green) – 160
Yaseen Khan (Lab) – 732
David Marsh (Lib Dem) – 153
Jane Stevenson (Cons)* – 2,373
Wednesfield North (Lab hold)
Mary Bateman (Lab)* – 1,242
Lee Harris (Green) – 67
David Hunt (Cons) – 749
Eddie Szwarc (UKIP) – 231
Wednesfield South (Lab hold)
Greg Brackenridge (Lab)* – 1,466
Ranjit Dhillon (Cons) – 974
Zak Roche (Green) – 141
