Walsall and Bloxwich election result as Labour win from Reform UK in revised seat

The Labour candidate beat five rivals to emerge victorious in the seat made up of parts from Walsall North and Walsall South, which were abolished heading into this election.

The candidates looked nervous as they took to the stand, waiting to hear the final tally of the count.

However, only one could emerge victorious from the Walsall and Bloxwich portion of the election, with Valerie Vaz taking the win for the Labour Party.

Talking from the podium, she said: "I want to start by thanking everyone for the turns of the event, every single member of the council who woke up early this morning to open the doors and those who were here right down to the count.

"I also want to thank my agent, who also happens to be my husband, Paul, for being by my side throughout this journey. I also want to thank the police for keeping us safe, particularly for looking after me and my team today while we were out."

In the speech, Valerie said that there 'is a lot of work to be done' and that she strives to ensure that there is 'economic and social justice and peace' both in Walsall and throughout the world.

She said: "There is a lot of work to be done now. What we need to do is to ensure that there is economic and social justice and peace both here and throughout the world.

"So thank you all, thank you to every single person who took the time to vote for me and my party. Thank you all very much."

Talking to the Express & Star afterwards Valerie Vaz said that she is delighted with the win in the new constituency and that she will 'continue to work for the people'.

Valerie said: "Absolutely delighted. This is a new constituency, it takes in four wards of the old Walsall North, I really didn't know what the outcome was going to be, but we had a good manifesto in the Labour Party.

"I don't think we expected the election to be called, we really didn't believe it. But it was six weeks of making the case for a Labour government to my new constituents.

"I really couldn't have achieved this without my brilliant members and supports who came out and knocked on doors, we really went traditional. This isn't a victory just for me, but also for everyone who has stayed here through all the difficulties of a six-week long campaign."

Labour raced to the finish and took the win after gaining 12,514 votes, almost 5,000 votes more than the second-place candidate, Independent Aftab Nawaz, who won 7,600.

The full results are:

Sadat Hussain - Green Party: 2,288

Shannon Lloyd - Conservative: 6,679

Aftab Nawaz - Independent: 7,600

Patrick Stillman - Liberal Democrats: 817

Valerie Vaz - Labour: 12,514

Elaine Williams - Reform UK: 7,293

The turnout in Walsall and Bloxwich was 46 per cent.