THE candidates battling it out next month for a seat on Sandwell Council have been revealed.
A third of Sandwell Council’s seats will be up for grabs on Thursday, May 2 - with results shaping up to impact both sides of the chamber.
Labour currently boasts a huge majority on Sandwell Council and will be defending 18 of the 24 seats set to be contested next month.
The main opposition, the Conservatives, are represented by just eight seats – half of which will be on the line next month.
The council’s Labour leader Kerrie Carmichael is also defending her Blackheath seat with two of the Labour-run authority’s cabinet members, Peter Hughes and Charn Singh Padda, defending their respective Wednesbury North and Tipton Green seats.
The current political makeup of the council sees Labour on top with 59 seats, with the Conservatives represented by eight councillors. There are currently three independent councillors and two non-aligned councillors.
One of the non-aligned councillors, Hateley Heath ward councillor Kacey Akpoteni, quit Labour last year and will not be defending her seat. Laura Rollins, the council’s cabinet member for housing, will not be standing for re-election in West Bromwich Central.
Old Warley councillor Jay Anandou, who quit the Conservatives earlier this year and remained on the council as an independent, will not be seeking re-election.
The former Tory leader Laured Kalari is standing as an independent candidate to defend his Rowley seat.
Wade Taylor was mysteriously pulled as Labour’s candidate in Rowley at the last minute and replaced by Sohail Iqbal.
Archer Williams, who won in Princes End in 2021 as a Conservative candidate, will be defending his seat – but this time for a different party having crossed the floor and joined Labour at the start of the year.
Labour and the Conservatives will be standing candidates in all 24 wards with Reform UK fielding 18 candidates.
The Green Party has selected 15 candidates, the Liberal Democrats will be represented by 14 candidates, the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition have put forward six candidates, there are five independents, one UKIP candidate, and one candidate representing the Yeshua Party.
The full list of candidates by ward:
Abbey
Thomas Blewitt, Conservative
Nicky Hinchliff, Labour
Justin Macintosh, Trade Union and Socialist Coalition
Roderick MacRorie, Green
Blackheath
Kerrie Carmichael, Labour
Mike Cooper, Reform UK
Bob Dunn, Conservative
Aldo Mussi, Green
Craig Taylor, Independent
Bristnall
Gemma Barnfield, Conservative
Chris Clemson, Reform UK
Ellen Fenton, Labour
Clive Heywood, Liberal Democrat
Grove Vale
Dalel Singh Bhamra, Labour
Usha Rani Braich, Liberal Democrat
David Fisher, Conservative
Sam Harding, UKIP
Graham Nock, Reform UK
Jeremy Parker, Green
Cradley Heath and Old Hill
Leon Barnfield, Conservative
Nicholas Bradley, Liberal Democrat
Paul Connor, Green
Cammilla Mngaza, Trade Union and Socialist Coalition
Ballie Singh, Reform UK
Vicki Smith, Labour
Friar Park
Scott Chapman, Conservative
Elizabeth Giles, Labour
Steve Khuttan, Reform UK
Richard McVittie, Liberal Democrat
Kevin Priest, Green
Colin Rankine, Yeshua
Great Barr with Yew Tree
Connor Horton, Labour
Adrian Jones, Conservative
Shareen Khan, Green
Mark Smith, Liberal Democrat
Margaret Sutton, Reform UK
Great Bridge
Pete Durnell, Reform UK
Will Gill, Conservative
Khurshid Haque, Labour
Awais Qaisar, Green
Greets Green and Lyng
Gill Darby, Green
Paul Green, Conservative
Ray Nock, Reform UK
Pam Randhawa, Labour
Hateley Heath
Jason Glover, Conservative
Jackie Nock, Reform UK
Martin Roebuck, Liberal Democrat
Amardeep Singh, Labour
Langley Gillian Coleyshaw, Conservative
Caroline Owen, Labour
Ian Plant, Reform UK
Newton
Tony Braich, Liberal Democrat
Elaine Giles, Labour
Ravi Sangar, Conservative
Geoffrey Sutton, Reform UK
Hannah Valenzuela, Green
Old Warley
Luke Cotterill, Labour
Hilary Grandey, Green
Karl Leech, Reform UK
Jeffrey Regha, Conservative
Bob Smith, Liberal Democrat
Oldbury
Richard Gingell, Trade Union and Socialist Coalition
Mark Holdroyd, Green
Rizwan Jalil, Labour
Wikas Khan, Liberal Democrat
Robert Yardley, Conservative
Princes End
Kelly Cranston, Conservative
Gary Dale, Reform UK
Joe Loudon, Green
Archer Williams, Labour
Rowley
Saskia Ebanks, Green
Chris Fanthom, Reform UK
Sohail Iqbal, Labour
Laured Kalari, Independent
Satpal Singh, Conservative
Smethwick
Ravaldeep Bath, Trade Union and Socialist Coalition
Stephen Emms, Conservative
Gita Joshi, Green
Parbinder Kaur, Labour
Soho and Victoria
Parminder Dhesi, Conservative
Jeremy Rendell, Green
Farut Shaeen, Labour
Keith Wilmot, Liberal Democrat
St Paul’s
Sukhbir Singh Gill, Labour
Patricia Emms, Conservative
Tipton Green
Aaron Emms, Conservative
Richard Jeffcoat, Independent
Charn Singh Padda, Labour
Tividale
Maria Crompton, Labour
Steve Dabbs, Reform UK
Neil Griffiths, Conservative
Palwinder Singh, Liberal Democrat
Wednesbury North
Jayne Heathcote, Reform UK
Peter Hughes, Labour
Abdul Husen, Independent
Richard Jones, Liberal Democrat
Gareth Knox, Trade Union and Socialist Coalition
Mark Redding, Green
Steve Simcox, Conservative
Wednesbury South
Jenny Chidley, Labour
Manjit Singh Lall, Liberal Democrat
U’Semu Makaya, Trade Union and Socialist Coalition
Connor Marshall, Conservative
Jack Sabharwal, Reform UK
West Bromwich Central
Sarah Deans, Green
Farzana Haq, Labour
Daljit Kaur Nagra, Liberal Democrat
Rafiullah Mohammadzai, Conservative
Mohammed Rohim, Independent
Robert White, Reform UK
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