Wolverhampton will be one of the most important Council contests on May 6. At present the Council is run by a minority Conservative administration and a third of the seats are up for election. The Council leader Cllr Neville Patten has done an excellent job in reducing bureaucracy and thus achieving a Council tax freeze this year. This was all the more impressive given that he inherited a funding black hole of £41 million when he took over from Labour two years ago.
The General Election also provides some interest – not least in Wolverhampton South West which is our 49th target seat. Of the seven relevant wards the Conservatives won four (most with huge majorities) while Labour won two and the Lib Dems one, when last contested in 2008. God luck to ur Parliamentary candidate Paul Uppal.
There are two other constituencies in the City. One of them, Wolverhampton South East, is pretty safe for Labour. The third seat is Wolverhampton North East, our 250th target and so beyond reach according to the pundits. Yet in the Council elections in 2008 we gained several seats from Labour in this area and the lat time the seven relevant wards voted six went to the Conservatives – only one to Labour. Some of those results went our way by narrow margins. But let's hope our candidate for that seat Julie Rook makes it to Westminster. Definitely worth a punt.