Tories strengthen grip on Solihull Council
SOLIHULL Conservatives finished election day as they started – in the strongest position the group has across any of the seven West Midlands authorities.
Their leader, Cllr Bob Sleigh, will be pleased to have increased his majority to seven, which will be that bit harder to chip away in a council which elects in thirds.
That said, the Tories will undoubtedly be discomforted by the fact that a fortress-like Castle Bromwich could be taken in such dramatic fashion. UKIP ran them close in 2014, but the Greens not only won the seat, they did so by a landslide.
It seems that the tactics which were previously used to such devastating effect in Labour wards proved no less effective in a Tory stronghold and this will inevitably raise questions about how safe any seat will be going forward.
Their shock win in Castle Bromwich is a major coup for the Green, which has targeted Tory wards before, but has tended to benefit more directly from disillusioned Labour and Lib Dem voters. Having poured considerable resources into winning over voters, the scale of the victory nonetheless surprised the Greens themselves.
Campaigners, however, will be conscious that the Tories have edged another seat ahead thanks to their gains elsewhere.
So while the Greens may have become masters at running very targeted campaigns, which prove incredibly successful, closing the gap on the ruling group could yet prove a long job. The Lib Dems will have been bitterly disappointed to have lost seats in both Lyndon and Olton. The departure of group leader and Solihull’s longest-serving councillor, the well-respected former solicitor John Windmill, is a particular blow. The double defeat in two wards where the party was in a rock-solid position a decade ago suggests that campaigners have yet to stop their decline locally, which has had the effect of depleting their group (now just four members strong). The fact that the Lib Dems are beginning to show signs of recovery in other parts of the country where once they had MPs will add to the frustration.
It has been quite a while since Labour made a gain on Solihull Council. With that in mind, the party will be pleased to have beaten UKIP in Kingshurst & Fordbridge, perhaps a first step to rebuilding a base in North Solihull, although the strength of Green support will make the job harder in neighbouring wards.
UKIP has been all but wiped out in the UK, losing almost every councillor who marched to victory four years ago.
This meant it was always likely to be a struggle for Debbie Evans to hold on, despite her close involvement in a number of local campaigns, not least the fight to stop development at Babbs Mill.
Robert Hall, who has a seat in the same ward, is now left as the party’s sole representative in Solihull.