2007 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 2007 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party stayed in overall control of the council.[1]

Map of the results of the 2007 Sandwell council election. Labour in red, Conservatives in blue and Liberal Democrats in yellow.

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Labour 51
• Conservative 10
• Liberal Democrat 6
• British National Party 4
• Vacant 1[2]

Campaign

Before the election Labour ran the council with 50 councillors, compared to 12 for the Conservatives, 5 Liberal Democrats, 4 British National Party and 1 independent.[3] Labour defended 19 of the seats being contested, with the other parties hoping to make gains from Labour.[4]

The British National Party put up 15 candidates, aiming to build on the 3 gains they had made in the 2006 election.[4] The party campaigned on immigration, housing and crime and were hoping to take all 3 seats in Princes End ward for the first time anywhere in the United Kingdom.[5] However the British National Party was accused of "distortion and lies" by Labour and the Conservatives described the British National Party's councillors as an "embarrassment".[5]

In the last couple of days before polling day, the council sent an advertising van around the area to remind voters about the election.[6]

Election result

The results saw the Labour party easily stay in control of the council, with the Labour leader of the council describing the results as "remarkable".[7] Labour gained one seat from the Conservatives in St Pauls ward to move to 51 seats after winning 20 of the seats contested.[8][9] The Conservatives also lost a seat in Yew Tree to the Liberal Democrats.[8] They meant both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats won 2 seats each in the election,[9] with the Conservatives dropping to 10 seats and the Liberal Democrats going up to 6.[8]

The British National Party failed to win any seats, staying on 4 councillors,[10] coming closest to victory in Princes End where they were 20 votes behind Labour.[8] A further seat was vacant after independent councillor Alan Burkitt was automatically disqualified after having been given a suspended sentence.[11]

Sandwell Local Election Result 2007[12][13]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	20	1	0	+1	83.3	45.1	34,616	+0.9%
	Conservative	2	0	2	-2	8.3	27.3	20,947	+0.2%
	Liberal Democrats	2	1	0	+1	8.3	11.2	8,639	-3.8%
	BNP	0	0	0	0	0	15.2	11,646	+2.8%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.7	504	+0.3%
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	379	-0.3%
	Red and Green Alliance Party	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	66	+0.1%

Ward results

Abbey[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Steven Elling	1,835	54.5	+5.6
	Liberal Democrats	David Nikel	810	24.0	+2.6
	Conservative	Ewart Johnson	725	21.5	-8.2
Majority			1,025	30.4	+11.2
Turnout			3,370
	Labour hold		Swing

Blackheath[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Robert Price	1,341	42.8	-1.4
	Conservative	Debbie Elwell	1,027	32.8	-13.7
	BNP	Ryan Brigdale	633	20.2	+20.2
	Green	Aldo Mussi	132	4.2	+4.2
Majority			314	10.0
Turnout			3,133
	Labour hold		Swing

Bristnall[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Mary Griffin	1,255	45.2	-4.7
	Conservative	Terry Grainger	1,149	41.3	+4.7
	Liberal Democrats	Sandra Berisford	375	13.5	+0.0
Majority			106	3.8	-9.6
Turnout			2,779
	Labour hold		Swing

Charlemont with Grove Vale[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Anne Hughes	1,460	37.5	-11.1
	Labour	Ralph Perkins	970	24.9	+3.9
	BNP	Arthur Copson	788	20.3	+20.3
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Roebuck	671	17.3	-5.9
Majority			490	12.6	-12.8
Turnout			3,889
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cradley Heath and Old Hill[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ann Shackleton	1,483	45.1	-7.9
	Conservative	Alan Nugent	989	30.1	-16.9
	BNP	Martin Phillips	584	17.8	+17.8
	Green	Theresa Yates	230	7.0	+7.0
Majority			494	15.0	+9.1
Turnout			3,286
	Labour hold		Swing

Friar Park[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Joy Edis	1,168	41.7	-6.2
	BNP	Scott Dale	868	31.0	+31.0
	Conservative	Barry Nelson	620	22.1	-16.3
	Liberal Democrats	Dorothy Brayshaw	145	5.2	-8.5
Majority			300	10.7	+1.2
Turnout			2,801
	Labour hold		Swing

Great Barr with Yew Tree[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Allcock	1,207	32.5	+1.0
	Labour	Steve Melia	955	25.7	+0.8
	BNP	Terry Lewin	807	21.7	-3.5
	Conservative	Margaret Macklin	747	20.1	+1.8
Majority			252	6.8	+0.5
Turnout			3,716
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Great Bridge[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Peter Allen	1,417	45.3	+6.6
	BNP	Jenny Howells	941	30.1	-15.0
	Conservative	Mac Beckley	528	16.9	+16.9
	Independent	Raymond Crawford	138	4.4	+4.4
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Roberts	104	3.3	-13.0
Majority			476	15.2
Turnout			3,128
	Labour hold		Swing

Greets Green and Lyng[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Gurchuran Sidhu	1,448	47.5	+1.0
	BNP	Gordon Howells	764	25.0	-2.5
	Conservative	Elaine Fitzpatrick	620	20.3	+3.8
	Liberal Democrats	Dot Jones	218	7.1	-1.4
Majority			684	22.4	+3.4
Turnout			3,050
	Labour hold		Swing

Hateley Heath[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Yvonne Davies	1,591	48.7	+3.6
	BNP	Alice Dale	964	29.5	-0.9
	Conservative	Stephanie Page	444	13.6	+2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Mitchener	270	8.3	-5.0
Majority			627	19.2	+4.5
Turnout			3,269
	Labour hold		Swing

Langley[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Martin Prestidge	1,453	47.3	+7.5
	Conservative	Ronald Griffiths	729	23.7	-0.8
	BNP	David Howells	666	21.7	-5.9
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Allcock	226	7.4	-0.7
Majority			724	23.6	+11.4
Turnout			3,074
	Labour hold		Swing

Newton[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrats	Martyn Smith	1,327	42.3	-0.6
	Labour	David Hosell	1,075	34.3	+0.6
	Conservative	Valerie Ward	733	23.4	+0.0
Majority			252	8.0	-1.2
Turnout			3,135
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Oldbury[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Elaine Giles	2,041	64.4	-0.1
	Conservative	Abdul Qayyum	1,129	35.6	+8.4
Majority			912	28.8	-8.5
Turnout			3,170
	Labour hold		Swing

Old Warley[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Trevor Crumpton	1,572	45.8	+6.8
	Conservative	David Hadley	1,401	40.8	-2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Reed	462	13.4	-3.9
Majority			171	5.0
Turnout			3,435
	Labour hold		Swing

Princes End[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Raymond Howes	898	35.7	-4.8
	BNP	Karen Parkes	878	34.9	-8.6
	Conservative	Beatrice Owen	498	19.8	+3.8
	Independent	June Newell	241	9.6	+9.6
Majority			20	0.8
Turnout			2,515
	Labour hold		Swing

Rowley[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Barbara Price	1,511	52.1	-4.0
	Conservative	Chris Kelly	760	26.2	-17.7
	BNP	John Salvage	489	16.9	+16.9
	Green	Vicky Dunn	142	4.9	+4.9
Majority			751	25.9	+13.7
Turnout			2,902
	Labour hold		Swing

St Pauls[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Patricia Davies	2,378	60.8	+7.3
	Conservative	Nahim Rubani	1,534	39.2	+5.8
Majority			844	21.6	+1.5
Turnout			3,912
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Smethwick[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Keith Davies	1,611	53.6	-8.1
	Conservative	Bhervinder Singh	810	26.9	+26.9
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Prior	587	19.5	-11.1
Majority			801	26.6	-4.5
Turnout			3,008
	Labour hold		Swing

Soho and Victoria[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Roger Horton	1,697	55.6	-9.5
	Liberal Democrats	Shamim Ahmed	982	32.2	+8.3
	Conservative	Victoria Barnett	305	10.0	+10.0
	Red and Green Alliance Party	Shari Temochin	66	2.2	+2.2
Majority			715	23.4	-18.2
Turnout			3,050
	Labour hold		Swing

Tipton Green[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Syeda Khatun	1,667	47.1	+11.4
	BNP	Steven Parkes	1,024	28.9	-4.7
	Conservative	Gaz Khan	581	16.4	-14.3
	Liberal Democrats	Ronald Hackett	266	7.5	+7.5
Majority			643	18.2	+16.1
Turnout			3,538
	Labour hold		Swing

Tividale[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Hinton	1,309	41.6	+5.6
	BNP	Sharon Butler	938	29.8	-7.2
	Conservative	Robert Lawrence	567	18.0	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Diane Gorton	333	10.6	+1.0
Majority			371	11.8
Turnout			3,147
	Labour hold		Swing

Wednesbury North[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Elaine Costigan	1,559	55.9	-5.7
	Labour	Tony Mallam	726	26.0	-0.5
	BNP	Derrick Dale	504	18.1	+18.1
Majority			833	29.9	-5.2
Turnout			2,789
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wednesbury South[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	George Turton	1,365	40.7	+1.3
	Conservative	Michael Middleton	996	29.7	+3.9
	BNP	Mark Paskin	798	23.8	-4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Smith	198	5.9	-1.1
Majority			369	11.0	-0.6
Turnout			3,357
	Labour hold		Swing

West Bromwich Central[12][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Bawa Dhallu	1,850	55.3	+1.2
	Conservative	Robert White	1,036	31.0	+17.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jarnail Sandhu	458	13.7	-18.6
Majority			814	24.3	+2.5
Turnout			3,344
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. "Sandwell". BBC News Online. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
2. "National: Elections 2007: Town and country go to the polls". The Guardian. 4 May 2007. p. 6.
3. Johnson, Steve (5 April 2007). "It's your decision; Tories facing uphill struggle for power: Nominations May 3 elections". Birmingham Mail. p. 6.
4. Williams, Dale; Deeley, Tony (2 May 2007). "Big battalions go for total victory; Local elections: Labour and Tories aim for clean sweep of town halls". Birmingham Mail. p. 23.
5. Hardy, James (20 April 2007). "Are BNP set for Sandwell gains?". BBC News Online. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
6. "Roving reminder for voters". Birmingham Mail. 2 May 2007. p. 23.
7. Deeley, Tony (4 May 2007). "Snub for BNP in elections". Birmingham Mail. p. 1.
8. Deeley, Tony (4 May 2007). "Labour still on top; Election results round-up Sandwell:Bad night for Tories as controlling party gain seat". Birmingham Mail. p. 29.
9. "No change as two councils declare". BBC News Online. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
10. "BNP fails to turn votes into seats". Evening Standard. 4 May 2007. p. 1.
11. Deeley, Tony (10 May 2007). "June bid for by-election; West Bromwich: High hopes after shamed councillor sacked". Birmingham Mail. p. 24.
12. "Sandwell". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
13. "Results". The Times. 5 May 2007. p. 83.
14. "Local election results round-up". Express & Star. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2011.