Three political groups in Walsall have selected their new leaders following the local elections last week. Group leaders serve as the primary spokespersons for their members and are responsible for presenting group policy on their behalf.
Reform UK Group
For Reform, the group leader will become the leader of Walsall Council, subject to a vote of all 60 members next week. Reform members in Walsall have chosen Councillor Elaine Williams as group leader. Councillor Williams has been the main figurehead for Reform in Walsall and was voted in for a one-year term in the Short Heath ward last week. She has stood as a Reform candidate in local elections since 2021, as a mayoral candidate for the West Midlands Combined Authority in 2024, and also in the general election in 2024. Councillor Nicky Barker from the Bloxwich West ward has been chosen as deputy leader for the group. She previously stood in the local elections as a Reform candidate in 2024 but came further into the public eye earlier this year after she secured a Grade II Listing for the Leather Museum building on Littleton Street West. Last week, she was elected for a four-year term and scored the second highest number of votes across the whole borough.
Conservative Group
The second largest group at Walsall Council, with 10 members, is the Conservatives. Chosen to lead the group is Councillor Adrian Andrew of the Pheasey Park Farm ward. Councillor Andrew was first elected in 2000 and awarded the portfolio for regeneration in the mid-2000s. In recent years, he had acted as deputy leader under the former leader of the council, Mike Bird, who lost his seat in the same ward on Friday after 46 years. Chosen as the deputy leader of the Conservatives is Councillor John Murray. Both Councillors Andrew and Murray scored the second highest number of votes in each of their wards, meaning they will both serve a two-year term.
Walsall Community Independents Group
Finally, the Walsall Community Independents group will be led by Councillor Aftab Nawaz from the St Matthew’s ward and Councillor Khizar Hussain from the Pleck ward. The pair had acted as leader and deputy leader of the Walsall Community Independents before the local elections, and prior to that, leader and deputy leader of the Labour group at Walsall Council. The pair quit the Labour group in 2023, along with several other members, over Keir Starmer’s stance on Gaza. Before the local election, the Walsall Community Independents overtook Labour as the official opposition with 12 members – Labour had 11. Both Councillors Nawaz and K Hussain scored the highest number of votes in each of their wards, meaning they will both serve a four-year term.
The first meeting of full council is expected to take place on Monday, May 18 at Walsall Council House.
