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found 13 stories.
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Daniel Wainwright Express & Star 13 Sep 10
Boundary changes at the next election might mean five MPs could lose their seats. Before they cosied up together on the steps of Number 10 there was one thing David Cameron and Nick Clegg definitely agreed on – with 650 of them there are too many MPs.
In Walsall, Valerie Vaz and David Winnick face the merging of Walsall North and South into a single seat while Aldridge and Brownhills, held by Tory Richard Shepherd, looks set to get bigger…
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Express & Star 13 Sep 10
Five MPs in the Black Country and Staffordshire could lose their seats under a shake-up of boundaries in the West Midlands.
Sandwell, Dudley and Walsall would all lose one of their MPs while Stafford will be split between a new Stafford and Rugeley seat as well as part of the new Stone and Uttoxeter…
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Express & Star 8 Jun 10
Former MPs who retired or lost their seats at the General Election were revealed to be sharing more than £10m in golden goodbyes.
The 218 MPs who stood down on May 6 have received an average of £47,706 — with the first £30,000 of the windfall tax-free, as part of a one-off Resettlement Grant. Bruce George, who stood down as Walsall South MP after 36 years, gets £49,222.16…
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Adam Lumley The YamYam 7 May 10
With national politics paralysed with uncertainty as to who will lead the next government, the political map in Walsall remains almost unchanged with only two council seats changing hands.
Lee Jeavons has regained the Birchills-Leamore ward for Labour with a majority of 171 over sitting Conservative Kamran Aftab. The seat was last contested as recently as 2008 in a by-election forced by the resignation of a former Labour councillor. In St Matthews, Conservative Imran Azam saw off a challenge from Eileen Russell for Labour with a majority of 383. The ward returns to total Conservative control as it was in 2006 before outgoing councillor Haq Khan defected from the Conservatives to Labour.
Elsewhere in the borough, existing councillors or candidates replacing those deciding to stand down, were returned with increased majorities. Mayor of Walsall John O’Hare and cabinet members Anthony Harris, Chris Towe and Rachel Andrew (formerly Rachel Walker) were all re-elected with a higher share of the vote. Other Tory candidates in safe Conservative seats in the east of the borough also improved vote share compared with 2006 with some doubling their majorities.
In the west, Labour candidates also improved their share of the vote turning marginal wards into safe Labour seats. Nazir Mohammed in Palfrey turned a 2006 majority of 97 into 1,261 and Kath Phillips in Bloxwich East went from a tight 13 to a more comfortable 248, beating former Pelsall councillor Clive Ault in the process.
In Pelsall itself, Conservative Oliver Bennett won against six other challengers and more than doubled the majority inherited from former councillor Ault. The Liberal Democrats held Willenhall North with a slightly reduced majority but Independent Paul Bott held Darlaston South with a reduced majority of 77.
Voting in Walsall reflected the national swing away from Labour to the Conservatives and the absence of the predicted “Clegg factor” from the Liberal Democrats. The failure of the BNP to make any impression and with UKIP unable to get its campaign off the ground has had little effect in the local elections. Although official turnout figures are not yet available, it is probable that the number of people voting in Walsall in 2010 will be greater than in previous years and may exceed the 4% increase nationally.
The voting pattern is also evident in the Westminster constituencies result. Richard Shepherd held Aldridge Brownhills for the Conservatives with an 11% increase in his vote and David Winnick in Walsall North saw his Labour majority slashed to less than 1,000. Newcomer Valerie Vaz held on to Walsall South with a greatly reduced majority. Nationally these trends have led to a hung parliament and an uncertain parliamentary future but in Walsall, very little has changed.
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Adam Lumley The YamYam 6 May 10
As voting takes place in the three Walsall parliamentary constituencies and the 20 council wards in the local elections, details of the count have only recently been revealed. Votes cast in the Westminster battle will be counted as soon as polls close at 10pm and announced in the early hours of Friday morning. The votes in the council elections will not be counted until 3pm on Friday afternoon.
In another break with tradition, the counts will take place at the University of Wolverhampton Walsall campus in Gorway Road. Peter Allsopp, Walsall Council electoral services manager, said: “It is a huge logistical effort to get people registered as well as the number of polling stations staffed and equipped and it can be a really busy time. We have spent a great deal of time and effort in encouraging people to register and polling day is the end result of these efforts. We are keen to publicise the results as swiftly and efficiently as possible.
“Our website at will be updated but we are also looking to use Facebook and Twitter which will be updated in real time from the count itself as soon as the results are announced. As an authority we are using social media more and more as the demand is there for it.”
The council website is pessimistic regarding the turnout for both elections. It states that “scores” of people are expected to vote today. With such a low turnout, the results may be released in no time at all. Walsall Council offer these social media links to give the electorate real time election results below.
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TheYamYam links 30 Apr 10
David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown went head to head in the final television debate at Birmingham University.
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B'ham Mail 26 Oct 09
MPS could face legal action from their own wives and husbands if they are forced to sack them under new anti-sleaze rules, according to a West Midlands MP. A review published next month is expected to order up to 20 MPs in the region to stop employing family members as secretaries and researchers…
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BBC News 22 June 09
Tory MP John Bercow has received the most support in the first round of voting for the new speaker. But as no-one received 50% the process continues with a new round of voting and is likely to last hours. Mr Bercow received 179 votes, Tory Sir George Young was second with 112 votes, Labour’s Margaret Beckett was third with 74 votes. Richard Shepherd is out of the race…
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BBC News 22 June 09
Former Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett is being tipped by bookmakers as the new House of Commons Speaker…
Margaret Beckett – 2/1, John Bercow – 3/1, Sir George Young – 3/1, Sir Alan Beith – 10/1, Ann Widdecombe – 10/1, Sir Alan Haselhurst – 14/1, Sir Patrick Cormack – 33-1, Parmjit Dhanda – 33/1, Richard Shepherd – 40/1, Sir Michael Lord – 50/1
Politics
Birmingham Post 15 Jun 09
Clare Short has branded Prime Minister Gordon Brown a “tragedy” and has voiced fears for the future of the Labour Party at the next General Election….