Council remains Conservative-led after deal struck

Voters elected the same number of councillors for both Labour and the Tories

Dudley Council will continue to be Conservative-led after political leaders hammered out a deal in the wake of local elections.

Voters elected the same number of councillors for both Labour and the Tories, plus three Liberal Democrats and one independent, leading to tough negotiations to shape the new authority.

The deal comes after the Tories, which had run the authority for three years, lost overall control at the ballot box, on 2 May.

Councillor Patrick Harley will continue as leader, while Labour will hold the majority of scrutiny committee chairmanships and the mayoralty.

"It is a good deal for the borough, we shall get to the nitty gritty in scrutiny and cabinet so full council should be without drama," Mr Harley, who as leader will appoint the new cabinet, said.

'Hold executive to account'

"All three groups will have huge influence, it is a unifying thing which will bring stability and it has been done in a mature and sensible manner."

Under the deal long-standing councillor Hilary Bills, is set to be elected as the new mayor, a role she missed out on after holding the deputy mayoralty three times.

Councillor Pete Lowe, Labour group leader, said: "The best approach for the people of Dudley is to look at what they would expect from us.

"When we are in the financial situation that we are, we need to hold the executive to account, which we have managed to do following discussions."

The council's auditor told bosses in January their reduced spending to cover a £12m deficit in 2024/25 might not be enough.

Despite proposed savings of £7.7m, the council may have to make further cuts to avoid declaring a section 114 order and becoming, in effect, bankrupt.

'Grown-up politics'

While the Lib-Dems will hold the balance of power, they have opted to avoid doing deals with either side.

Lib-Dem councillor Ryan Priest will serve as vice-chair on the powerful Overview and Scrutiny Committee, under the chairmanship of independent Councillor Shaun Keasey.

Mr Priest said: "This feels like grown-up politics, this has been tough with a lot of backwards and forwards.

"We are clear it is a Conservative authority, but the opposition has more powers of scrutiny.

"There is no formal agreement – nobody is propping anybody up."

The new arrangements for control of the council are set to be formally approved by a meeting of the full council on Thursday.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.