Walsall Labour Group Leader Cllr Aftab Nawaz would like to thank all candidates, councillors, election agents and staff for their efforts and campaigning for the recent Local elections, West Midlands Mayoral elections and West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner elections on Thursday 6th May 2021.
The group would like to pay tribute to defeated Councillors Tina Jukes (Birchills Leamore), Steve Wade (Brownhills), and Matt Ward (Blakenall). The group would also like to thank Julie Fitzpatrick (Bloxwich East) who stood down at the recent election. The group thanks all of them for their service to their communities and as part of the Walsall Labour Group over many years with Walsall Council.
Walsall Labour Group sends commiserations to Liam Byrne MP for not gaining the West Midlands Mayoralty despite a strong and engaging campaign. The group would also like to congratulate Simon Foster on his election as the new West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner. We look forward to working with him in Walsall throughout his term in office.
In reaction to the election results Walsall Labour Group Leader Cllr Aftab Nawaz said:
“It’s a sad day. We have lost some really good, hardworking councillors, some councillors who have lots of future prospects but I’m sure they will be back.
“We did well to keep Rushall-Shelfield and Willenhall South, where the Conservatives put in a lot of effort but we were disappointed to lose Blakenall and Birchills-Leamore.
“We have got to dust ourselves off. It’s still quite raw at the moment. We are still going to be a strong opposition.”
Cllr Nawaz continues:
“The difficulty with local elections is we’re at the mercy of what is happening at a national level. That’s why it’s sad to lose councillors like Matt Ward and Tina Jukes who have done so much hard work for their communities.”
