Sandwell is a consistently Labour council, with Labour having held majorities in every election since its creation in 1973, apart from 1978 when the Conservatives gained the council.[3] From 2018 to 2021, Sandwell was one of the few councils to be comprised fully of one party, with Labour in control of all 72 wards.[4] In the most recent election in 2023 election both Labour and the Conservatives gained two seats each, the councillors on these seats having either switched to the Liberal Democrats or gone independent after the 2022 election.
Both of the parties have lost councillors over the last year. The majority of these have not had the reasons behind publicly revealed. However, it is known that Councillor Jay Anandou left the Conservatives over the rest of his party failing to back his campaign to stop development on the former Brandhall Golf Club.[5] Additionally, two councillors switched from Conservative to Labour, citing a lack of faith in the Conservatives ability to govern.[6]
Council elections in the West Midlands