Former council leader remains suspended by Labour after 18 months

Steve Eling says he has still been given no explanation over his suspension from January 2019.

It saw him step down as the authority's council leader in February 2019, before he was deselected ahead of the local elections that May.

Abbey Ward councillor Steve Eling said: "I'm still waiting to hear back basically. I don't know what they are doing but it is a long time.

"We will have to wait and see. It is in their hands. They didn't say why I was suspended, they said there had been a complaint.

"The letter I had saying I was suspended just said there had been a complaint."

His ongoing suspension means that two of the last four former leaders of Sandwell Council have been suspended by Labour.

Councillor Yvonne Davies stepped down as the leader in July after she was suspended over a series of tweets she posted in 2017 and 2018.

It is understood both Mr Eling and Councillor Davies are administratively suspended pending investigations.