All 72 seats on Sandwell Council are up on 7 May. Labour has been on the frontline protecting Sandwell’s services through fourteen years of Conservative cuts. A divided vote is the only way Reform takes our borough — and Reform in office means broken promises, higher bills and chaos.
What is at stake on 7 May
On Thursday 7 May 2026, every seat on Sandwell Council goes to the vote — all 72 councillors across 24 wards, three per ward. It is the first Sandwell election since the new ward boundaries took effect (Sandwell Council — 2026 local elections). The entire direction of the borough is on one ballot. Sandwell Labour has been explicit about the choice: a proven track record of delivery, or chaos and division with Reform.
What Labour has delivered
Labour councillors have been on the frontline protecting our services against fourteen years of Conservative cuts. We have always put Sandwell first, and the numbers back it up:
- £3.5m Community Road Safety Concern Programme delivering improvements at 44 sites across the borough, every one nominated by local communities
- Every library kept open — every library is still serving residents, while neighbouring Tory-run areas have closed theirs.
- Six modern leisure centres — one in every town, with £4 million invested in parks.
- £9 million Skills Centre in Rowley Regis — creating good jobs and training the next generation.
- NHS occupational-health waits cut from 20 weeks to 4 in Sandwell.
- Meals on Wheels and the community alarm service kept free — a lifeline for older residents that Reform-run councils have cut elsewhere.
- More CCTV, tougher fly-tipping enforcement and named neighbourhood officers
This is what fourteen years of Labour in Sandwell has meant: services protected, investment delivered, older residents looked after, every town centre in the line of sight.
What Reform councils actually do
Reform likes to campaign on cutting waste and cutting tax. In office, the record is the opposite. In council after council where they campaigned on cutting waste and cutting taxes, they’re putting council tax up and slashing services, while getting embroiled in chaotic infighting and even racism scandals.
Nationally, Reform has been winning council seats that on paper belonged to the centre-left. On 22 April 2026, Reform took Salford’s Barton and Winton ward — a seat Labour held with 71.8 per cent in 2022 — with 676 votes to Labour’s 643, the Greens’ 363 and the Liberal Democrats’ 94. More than 1,100 residents voted for a party of the centre-left. Reform won on 676. The progressive majority was there; it just wasn’t behind one candidate.
That is how Reform takes a Labour council. Not by persuading a majority — by splitting one.
Reform are all anger, no solutions
Reform has no plan for Sandwell. They are backed by failed Tory MPs who already let Sandwell down once and will do so again. When Reform get into power in local councils they make things worse — breaking their promises and hiking council tax in every council they run. Nigel Farage wants to scrap our NHS and online protections for our kids.
This is not the approach Sandwell needs. Our borough needs councillors on the frontline, not culture warriors in a TV studio.
What is at stake across the six towns
The investment transforming Sandwell is not theoretical — it is being delivered, right now, in every town.
In West Bromwich, high-street regeneration, new leisure and continued investment in the town’s libraries anchor the borough’s largest centre.
In Oldbury, council investment alongside tough new anti-social behaviour enforcement is restoring pride in the town centre.
In Smethwick, road repair, community safety funding and continued support for local business are the daily work of a Labour council.
In Rowley Regis, the new £9 million Skills Centre is training the next generation of Sandwell workers for the jobs coming into the borough.
In Tipton, modern leisure facilities, continued library provision and investment in parks show what Labour in office means.
In Wednesbury, road investment, enforcement against fly-tipping, and new community facilities are rebuilding the town centre after years of Tory neglect at Westminster.
The choice on 7 May
Local elections take place across Sandwell on Thursday 7 May 2026. All 72 seats are up. Many wards will be close three-cornered contests.
If you care about every library staying open, potholes being filled, Meals on Wheels staying free, the NHS being protected, and a real plan to back Sandwell’s six towns — there is one way to stop Reform taking your ward: vote Labour.
A vote for an independent, a minor party or a protest candidate may feel like a statement. In a tight contest, it is a vote that fragments the anti-Reform majority and helps Reform win on a minority of the turnout. That is exactly what happened in Salford on 22 April. It does not need to happen here.
Sandwell Labour has a strong track record of delivery and a long-term plan. Reform offers chaos and division. On 7 May, vote Labour — and keep putting Sandwell first.