Local Elections 2023: Key battles over control of councils

Labour is targeting Walsall and Dudley and hope to make gains there

Thousands of council seats will be contested on Thursday at hundreds of councils across England in the local elections.

In the West Midlands, there are 26 elections with several political parties eager for success.

But most of these councils only have a third of their seats up for election, which means we are unlikely to see dramatic changes.

Labour are targeting Walsall and Dudley and hope to make gains there.

If they have a very good night, there's a chance they could take Walsall.

Stoke-on-Trent looks to be one of the most interesting election races in the West Midlands

Stoke-on-Trent is one of the most interesting races in the West Midlands if not the whole of England.

This council was in no overall control in 2019, but heading into Thursday's elections, the Conservatives are the biggest party and currently run this authority.

Labour really want to take it back from them though - they've pulled resources in there, but they may not have it all their own way because there are sizable numbers of independents in Stoke-on-Trent, who could make all the difference.

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Likewise, independents are currently running Herefordshire, in conjunction with the Green Party, and both of those parties are looking to consolidate there.

In some of our smaller district and borough councils across Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire, there is an awful lot of blue for the Tories, but again Labour is hoping to make gains.

Places like North Warwickshire and Rugby could be key battlegrounds.

Labour also thinks it can do well in Stafford and even potentially in Bromsgrove if things go well for the party.

One area which could prove key to who does well or not on Thursday could be north Warwickshire

But perhaps the most interesting race is Stratford-On-Avon.

The Liberal Democrats think they can take this council and they only need about four seats to flip it.

It is of course the area where Nadhim Zahawi is the Conservative MP - he was forced to resign as party chairman earlier this year over his tax affairs, so could that be a factor there?

The Liberal Democrats think so and I have to say, a lot of the local Conservatives are actually running as "local Conservatives" which is interesting.

Polling stations open at 07:00 BST on Thursday morning and shut at 22:00.

For the first time, if you are going to the polling station, you will need to take a form of photo ID - so something like a passport or your driving licence.

There are other forms which are legal and you can probably find out about those on your local authority website or on the Electoral Commission website.

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