Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council election, 2011

Map of the results of the 2011 Sandwell council election. Labour in red and Conservatives in blue.

The 2011 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2011 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]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Labour 58
• Conservative 9
• Liberal Democrat 3
• Independent 1
• Independent Socialist 1^[2]

Background

Labour defended 22 of the 24 seats which were contested in 2011, compared to 1 seat being defended each for the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.^[3] Labour councillors defending seats included Elaine Costigan, who had defected from the Conservatives, and the deputy leader of the council Steve Eling.^[3][4]

The British National Party only contested 2 seats, compared to 17 when these seats were last contested in 2007 and a full slate in 2010.^[4][5] A new Traditional Conservative Party, led by the former Sandwell Conservative leader Tony Ward, also put up candidates.^[6][4] Ward had left the Conservatives after being deposed as leader in 2010.^[4]

Election result

The results saw Labour maintain a majority on the council after making a gain of one seat^[7] from the Liberal Democrats.^[8] This meant Labour took 23 of the 24 seats contested^[6] and therefore had 58 of the 72 councillors.^[8] The only seat not won by Labour was held by the Conservatives in Charlemont with Grove Vale.^[6][9]

Sandwell Local Election Result 2011[2]
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	23	1	0	+1	95.8	65.6	50,950	+18.2%
	Conservative	1	0	0	0	4.2	25.8	20,056	-2.1%
	Liberal Democrat	0	0	1	-1	0	4.8	3,768	-5.7%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	1.9	1,481	+0.8%
	BNP	0	0	0	0	0	0.8	616	-10.7%
	Sandwell Traditional Conservatives	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	413	+0.5%
	National Front	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	410	+0.5%

Ward results

Abbey[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Steven Eling	2,651	68.5	+10.9
	Conservative	Hughie Johnson	696	18.0	-6.3
	Green	Barry Lim	357	9.2	-2.0
	Liberal Democrat	Bryan Manley-Green	166	4.3	+4.3
Majority			1,955	50.5	+17.3
Turnout			3,870
	Labour hold		Swing

Blackheath[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Price	1,880	58.6	+17.3
	Conservative	Debbie Elwell	1,326	41.4	+6.1
Majority			554	17.3	+11.3
Turnout			3,206
	Labour hold		Swing

Bristnall[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lucy Cashmore	2,003	66.5	+20.4
	Conservative	Chris Brown	1,011	33.5	+4.7
Majority			992	32.9	+15.6
Turnout			3,014
	Labour hold		Swing

Charlemont with Grove Vale[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anne Hughes	1,624	44.8	+4.0
	Labour	Liam Preece	1,512	41.7	+10.0
	Green	Dell Macefield	251	6.9	+4.6
	Liberal Democrat	David Fisher	242	6.7	-8.9
Majority			112	3.1	-6.1
Turnout			3,629
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cradley Heath and Old Hill[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ann Shackleton	2,223	62.2	+17.9
	Conservative	Alan Bowler	1,150	32.2	-0.2
	Liberal Democrat	Robert Johns	200	5.6	-8.1
Majority			1,073	30.0	+18.1
Turnout			3,573
	Labour hold		Swing

Friar Park[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joy Edis	1,555	64.8	+18.5
	Conservative	Paul Farrington	671	28.0	+0.7
	Liberal Democrat	Mary Wilson	172	7.2	-4.2
Majority			884	36.9	+17.9
Turnout			2,398
	Labour hold		Swing

Great Barr with Yew Tree[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shirley Hosell	1,831	48.1	+10.8
	Liberal Democrat	Keith Allcock	950	24.9	-4.9
	Conservative	Robert White	629	16.5	-6.2
	BNP	Terry Lewin	275	7.2	-3.0
	Sandwell Traditional Conservatives	Margaret Macklin	125	3.3	+3.3
Majority			881	23.1	+15.6
Turnout			3,810
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

Great Bridge[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Pete Allen	1,928	73.8	+33.5
	Conservative	Steve Simcox	686	26.2	+4.2
Majority			1,242	47.5	+29.2
Turnout			2,614
	Labour hold		Swing

Greets Green and Lyng[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gurcharan Sidhu	1,982	73.1	+16.5
	Conservative	Christine Vickers	532	19.6	-1.1
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Mitchener	197	7.3	-2.9
Majority			1,450	53.5	+17.5
Turnout			2,711
	Labour hold		Swing

Hateley Heath[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Pat Davies	1,911	66.7	+14.6
	Conservative	Mark Cowles	833	29.1	+0.6
	Liberal Democrat	Dorothy Brayshaw	121	4.2	+4.2
Majority			1,078	37.6	+14.1
Turnout			2,865
	Labour hold		Swing

Langley[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Yvonne Davies	2,032	67.8	+22.0
	Conservative	Maria Jones	966	32.2	+2.6
Majority			1,066	35.6	+19.4
Turnout			2,998
	Labour hold		Swing

Newton[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Hosell	1,787	49.6	+15.4
	Liberal Democrat	Kay Allcock	1,048	29.1	-6.9
	Conservative	Robert Fotzpatrick	680	18.9	-3.6
	Sandwell Traditional Conservatives	Emma Monasch	89	2.5	+2.5
Majority			739	20.5
Turnout			3,604
	Labour hold		Swing

Old Warley[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Trevor Crumpton	2,027	54.9	+14.7
	Conservative	Maurice Gaunt	1,102	29.9	-3.9
	Sandwell Traditional Conservatives	John McHard	199	5.4	+5.4
	Green	Aldo Mussi	183	5.0	+2.0
	Liberal Democrat	Bob Smith	179	4.9	-9.8
Majority			925	25.1	+18.6
Turnout			3,690
	Labour hold		Swing

Oldbury[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elaine Giles	2,729	81.5	+15.6
	Conservative	Edward Barnfield	619	18.5	-3.1
Majority			2,110	63.0	+18.6
Turnout			3,348
	Labour hold		Swing

Princes End[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Jones	1,348	55.3	+13.2
	Conservative	Steve Downing	750	30.8	-0.6
	BNP	Russ Green	341	14.0	-12.5
Majority			598	24.5	+13.8
Turnout			2,439
	Labour hold		Swing

Rowley[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barbara Price	1,821	62.3	+13.1
	Conservative	Thomas Millward	1,101	37.7	+2.1
Majority			720	24.6	+11.0
Turnout			2,922
	Labour hold		Swing

Smethwick[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Keith Davies	2,419	70.7	+7.7
	Conservative	Gurpeet Cheema	664	19.4	-5.5
	Green	Neil Barlow	339	9.9	+9.9
Majority			1,755	51.3	+13.3
Turnout			3,422
	Labour hold		Swing

Soho and Victoria[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roger Horton	3,201	90.8	+23.5
	Conservative	Altaf Ahmed	324	9.2	-3.3
Majority			2,877	81.6	+30.6
Turnout			3,525
	Labour hold		Swing

St Paul's[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Zahoor Ahmed	3,123	81.9	+29.8
	Conservative	Nagi Singh	691	18.1	-3.8
Majority			2,432	63.8	+33.5
Turnout			3,814
	Labour hold		Swing

Tipton Green[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Syeda Khatun	2,181	64.4	+23.1
	Conservative	Nathan Poole	798	23.5	-6.0
	National Front	Ade Woodhouse	410	12.1	+12.1
Majority			1,383	40.8	+29.0
Turnout			3,389
	Labour hold		Swing

Tividale[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lorraine Ashman	1,884	64.7	+23.8
	Conservative	Ben Elwell	840	28.8	-0.9
	Liberal Democrat	Joanne Arnold	189	6.5	-8.5
Majority			1,044	35.8	+24.6
Turnout			2,913
	Labour hold		Swing

Wednesbury North[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elaine Costigan	2,029	67.5	+29.3
	Conservative	Marc Lucock	885	29.4	-9.8
	Liberal Democrat	Gareth Loveridge	93	3.1	-7.4
Majority			1,144	38.0
Turnout			3,007
	Labour hold		Swing

Wednesbury South[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Olwen Jones	2,372	72.2	+21.1
	Conservative	Bash Hussain	912	27.8	-6.3
Majority			1,460	44.5	+27.5
Turnout			3,284
	Labour hold		Swing

West Bromwich Central[2][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bawa Dhallu	2,521	69.1	+11.0
	Conservative	Jack Sabharwal	566	15.5	-2.5
	Green	David Hawkins	351	9.6	+6.4
	Liberal Democrat	Thomas Underhill	211	5.8	-8.0
Majority			1,955	53.6	+13.5
Turnout			3,649
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. "England council elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
2. "Election results 2011". Sandwell Council. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
3. Henwood, Chris (6 April 2011). "Walsall and Dudley leaders up for re-election as Black Country councils go to the polls". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
4. Game, Chris (22 April 2011). "Local elections could give Labour the spark it needs". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
5. "BNP standing in more Sandwell Council seats than Lib Dems". Halesowen News. 12 April 2010. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
6. "Labour sweeps to victory in Sandwell local elections". Halesowen News. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
7. "Labour gains seats on Birmingham City Council". BBC News Online. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
8. Elkes, Neil (12 May 2011). "Drama at the 2011 local elections in the West Midlands". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
9. "Sandwell Council elections: Full results ward by ward". Birmingham Mail. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.