Wolverhampton City Council

The final result at the City of Wolverhampton Council leaves the political make-up of the authority unchanged with Labour still in control.

City of Wolverhampton CouncilCopyright: City of Wolverhampton Council

The party began the election with 44 councillors and end with the same number as the Tories failed to make any gains.

The Conservatives total remains as 16.

Councillors who are elected today in Wolverhampton are going to have the unusual situation of only serving one year and then defending their seat in 2023.

City of Wolverhampton CouncilCopyright: City of Wolverhampton Council

This is because, the city council says, a new pattern for wards in the city has been drawn up by the Local Government Boundary Commission and will be brought in next year.

At that point, all 60 councillors will be up for election in May 2023 on the new ward boundaries.

After that election, the cycle would return to a third of seats being contested at future polls.

Here are some of the key contests to look out for tonight in the West Midlands - be aware, low turnouts in some areas could mean results come through more quickly than expected.

Tamworth: The Conservative majority is unassailable. Last year they won every ward. If they did so again, Labour would be reduced to a single seat.

Estimated result declaration: 02:00

Worcester: The Conservatives eked out a majority of one last year. There are a couple of Labour seats in their targets this year but they also have to defend in Claines against the Lib Dems. So it could slip into hung territory again.

Estimated result declaration: 02:00

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Redditch: Labour won here in 2016 but the Conservatives captured the council in 2018, when boundaries changed, and last year became almost completely dominant. A repeat performance would see Labour reduced to a single seat so, clearly, they'll be looking to turn the tide.

Estimated result declaration: 02:30

Sandwell: Labour's majority is unassailable. However, the government said in January it was minded to appoint commissioners to run the council after a series of misconduct allegations. Keir Starmer has also said there needs to be change at the council.

Estimated result declaration: 03:00

Wolverhampton: This is almost a straight Lab v Con battle, and last year the Conservatives made five gains, following on from their strong showing at the general election. Labour's majority isn't in doubt but they will want to prevent a repeat performance.

Estimated result declaration: 03:30

City of Wolverhampton CouncilCopyright: City of Wolverhampton Council

Nuneaton and Bedworth: A Conservative gain last year when they added 10 seats. If they do anywhere near as well they'll add more seats this year. It's hard to see how Labour make any progress.

Estimated result declaration: 04:00

Dudley: A very strong performance by the Conservatives last year saw them take control for the first time in a decade. If they can get anywhere close to repeating the performance they will strengthen their grip on the council.

Estimated result declaration: 04:30

Coventry: Labour will win another comfortable majority but Keir Starmer may have made things harder for the party after he was accused of sniggering about Coventry in an interview about the city's bin strike and union funding.

Estimated result declaration: 05:00

Eight councils are expected to declare their results tonight in the West Midlands with a further six counting during the day on Friday.

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We have rough estimated declaration times for those authorities which is when we expect to be able to tell if control of the councils has changed or if one party has strengthened their grip or suffered losses.

Tonight:

• Tamworth - estimated result declaration: 02:00
• Worcester - estimated result declaration: 02:00
• Redditch - estimated result declaration: 02:30
• Sandwell - estimated result declaration: 03:00
• Wolverhampton - estimated result declaration: 03:30
• Nuneaton and Bedworth - estimated result declaration: 04:00
• Dudley - estimated result declaration: 04:30
• Coventry - estimated result declaration: 05:00

On Friday:

• Solihull - estimated result declaration: 13:00
• Cannock Chase - estimated result declaration: 13:00
• Walsall - estimated result declaration: 13:30
• Rugby - estimated result declaration: 16:00
• Newcastle-under-Lyme - estimated result declaration: 17:30
• Birmingham - estimated result declaration: 18:00

A Labour councillor for Wolverhampton City Council has been suspended from the city's party for breaching group rules.

Harborough Labour GroupCopyright: Harborough Labour Group

At a meeting on Monday night, Labour councillors voted 33-9 to suspend Celia Hibbert following allegations she voted against the whip and encouraged others to do so.

The Penn councillor is also accused of approaching the Conservative opposition and asking to join their group.

A vote was taken to remove the whip from Ms Hibbert for a year, however she has the opportunity to appeal.

Councillor Paul Birch, who represents Blakenhall at the council, said Councillor Hibbert's actions were a "complete disgrace to the Labour group and its values", however the group's leader, Ian Brookfield, declined to comment.

Councillor Hibbert has been approached for comment.

Councillors have defended the £25m refurbishment of Wolverhampton's council headquarters and said it was important to people that it had a visible presence in the city.

Conservative councillor Udey Singh told a meeting the Labour-run local authority should move staff out of the Civic Centre and in to smaller offices, with more people asked to work remotely.

But Labour councillor Chris Burden said he felt the work had been a "really positive thing" which had made the building better for staff.

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Mr Burden also said: “I think it’s the right choice to say the Civic Centre will remain at the heart of our community.

"The public do need to have a visible presence. Shipping us off to a smaller office is a concerning sort of approach to this which would change how the public view the council.”

Wolverhampton councillor Chris Burden has spoken out about being the target of homophobic abuse in the city last week.

Mr Burden said he had been abused as he had walked to his local pub to watch England play in the Euro 2020 tournament on Sunday.

"When I was walking there, on a short walk, I received homophobic abuse twice," he said. "I had people pull up alongside me yelling homophobic slurs, abuse, threats at me."

He said the abuse was not unusual: "I was disappointed and saddened, intimidated and scared - but I wasn't shocked."

The Labour councillor for Fallings Park ward shared his experience in a video to highlight discrimination faced by LGBT people for Pride month and to announce a council consultation to understand the needs of the community in the city.

Suspected arsonists are being blamed by a council for causing "substantial damage" to a community hub.

City of Wolverhampton CouncilCopyright: City of Wolverhampton Council

The fire at the Bob Jones Community Hub on Bromley Street, Wolverhampton, on 2 May destroyed gas meters and pipework.

The blaze also damaged air conditioning and electrical equipment which the city council said would need replacing.

The police and fire service are still investigating the fire and the local authority's leader, Ian Brookfield, said it had delayed the reopening of the hub.

"This was a mindless and dangerous act which could have put lives at risk," he said.

"This fire could have deprived the community of its use for the long term and, unfortunately, it has delayed the full reopening of the building to its community groups and hundreds of gym users."

Out of the 22 seats declared today, Labour has claimed 14 of them, taking their overall number of councillors to 44.

The Conservatives have made five gains, compared with 2019, but are still well short of challenging. They have 15 councillors overall.

There's also one independent.

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Counting is under way in Wolverhampton and so far the majority of wards have gone Labour's way and with only 22 seats up for election, they were never in any real danger of losing control.

That authority has now been confirmed as a hold for Labour.

Votes are also being counted in Sandwell, where huge marquees been set up at Sandwell Country Park while the usual venue at Tipton Sports Academy is used as a vaccination centre.

The Conservatives have made a couple of early gains there and turnout this year is 29.5%, up on 24.6% in 2019.