Suspended Tory to continue as council leader

Councillor Mike Bird was suspended from the Conservative Party

The leader of Walsall Council said he will continue as leader of the authority with the support of his colleagues, despite being suspended by the Conservative Party.

The suspension of councillor Mike Bird followed a disciplinary investigation and the party told the BBC that the details of the probe remained confidential.

Mr Bird had already lodged an appeal against the suspension.

He has been leader of the authority for three periods since 2009 including from May 2018 to now.

The annual general meeting of the Walsall Conservative group took place on Wednesday evening.

Mr Bird formed a "Conservative and Independent" group with the majority of the authority’s Conservative councillors.

The Tories continue to control the council following the local elections on 2 May in which they won 12 seats compared to five for Labour and three were won by Independent candidates.

As the largest political group on the council, Mr Bird will continue as leader.

The leader of the Labour opposition group in Walsall, Matt Ward, called for him to stand down during the investigation.

Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday evening, Mr Bird said he felt “proud and humbled” by the support of Conservative councillors.

Another councillor, Suky Samra, was also suspended by the Conservative Party for three months as part of the investigation.

He had been sitting as an independent since last year and said he also intended to appeal against his suspension.

Some members of Mr Bird's party have been critical of the move, and Conservative councillor Sarah Jane Cooper said “Councillor Bird’s obsession with power and remaining leader was evident at last night’s meeting."

She added: "This is nothing but a power grab and he should have done the honourable thing and stepped down and accepted his suspension from the Conservative Party and apologised for his actions."

She also said the formation of a new political group "makes a complete mockery of the Conservative Party as a whole and an insult to the residents who only last week voted for Conservative candidates and not independents".

Another Conservative councillor, Bobby Bains, said: “It is disappointing people who stood on the Conservative banner only last week have now defected to a new party.

"That’s fooled the public and they should be ashamed.”