Council by-election · Thursday, 24 September 2026

South Staffordshire: Wombourne North ward

5 candidates. Same page for each, in ballot-paper order.

5candidates for one seat

2sourced positions

1with something published

1named sources

MJ1. Michael James Jones
Liberal Democrats

2. Elizabeth Beatrice Florence Keeling
Conservative and Unionist Party

3. Claire McIlvenna
Green Party

4. Marie Shortland
Reform UK

5. Anil Singh
Labour and Co-operative Party

At the election of Thursday, 4 May 2023, this seat was won by 78 votes (1.9% of votes cast); turnout was 31%. Past results describe the past; each election is a new contest.

See the 5 candidates In a hurry? Two-minute guide →

In this ward 5 candidates from 5 parties or independent slots are standing. Parties do not stand everywhere; here is how to find out whether yours stands nearby.

This is a council seat. A councillor's win changes what the council decides: council tax, housing repairs and allocations, planning, social care, schools admissions, parking, bins, libraries. It does not change national tax, benefits or NHS policy, so this page shows only positions published for this council election, and no national party pledges are implied.

Sourced positions found for 1 of 5 candidates

Compare candidates side by side

You're voting for

Your local councillor

Councillors sit on the council that runs services where you live. They set the council's budget and council tax, and decide local planning applications. Here, for South Staffordshire: Wombourne North ward.

What this office decides

Planning. Whether new homes, extensions and developments get permission.
Waste and streets. Bins, recycling, street cleaning, fly-tipping.
Council tax. The level you pay, within limits set nationally.
Social care. In county and unitary councils, care for older and disabled people.
Parks and libraries. Opening, funding, closing.
Council housing. Repairs, allocations and, in many areas, homelessness.

What it does not

NHS policy and waiting times. Parliament and the NHS.
Income tax and benefits. Parliament.
Immigration. Parliament.
Policing policy. The Home Office and your Police and Crime Commissioner or mayor.
Schools' curriculum. Government and, for academies, their trusts.

Candidates often campaign on things their office cannot change. That is not dishonest in itself — an MP can press a council, a councillor can lobby government — but it is worth knowing which is which. Summarised from the Local Government Association and UK Parliament descriptions of each role.

How this vote is counted: first past the post. One cross; the candidate with the most votes wins.Worked example

Every ballot with one cross is counted for that candidate. The one with the most votes wins, even without a majority. Example: A 4,000, B 3,900, C 2,100. A wins with 40% of the vote; the 60% cast for others elect nobody. There are no second preferences; a vote for a candidate who does not win has no further effect.

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TopicSearch every position on this ballot

Showing 5 of 5 candidates. Everyone on the ballot, in ballot-paper order.

Numbered as on the ballot paper. Open a candidate to see their positions on the nine topics, with sources. Until a household is described, only positions that apply to everyone are counted.

1Michael James Jones

Liberal Democrats

ShowHide

Money —Housing —Health —Education —Environment —Immigration —Crime —Defence & EU —Equality —0 in total

Democracy Club profile Party site

In their own words

No statement to voters supplied to Democracy Club.

Stood before

South Staffordshire council, Himley Swindon ward (by-election), July 2026 (Liberal Democrats) — not elected

Previous candidacies from Democracy Club. A record of standing, not a judgement.

Open Michael's page →

Where this information comes from

Positions are quoted from the candidate's or party's own published material and official records, each with its source. Candidates and their agents can also submit sourced statements, published as written once we confirm they appear at the cited address. Not yet invited to submit a statement: we have no contact address. If you are this candidate, use the link below. Submit a statement.

Published positions on the nine topics

Nothing published that we could source, yet. A councillor sits on the council that sets council tax and decides planning, housing repairs and allocations, social care, bins, parking, libraries and, in most areas, school admissions. It cannot change national tax, benefits or NHS policy.

Are you this candidate, or their agent? Send us a sourced statement; it is published as written.
Look yourself: the council's election notices · the party's site · leaflets archived for this area (electionleaflets.org, a Democracy Club project).

1Michael James Jones

Liberal Democrats

2Elizabeth Beatrice Florence Keeling

The Conservative and Unionist Party

ShowHide

Money —Housing —Health —Education —Environment —Immigration —Crime —Defence & EU —Equality —0 in total

Democracy Club profile Party site

In their own words

No statement to voters supplied to Democracy Club.

Open Elizabeth's page →

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the nine topics

Are you this candidate, or their agent? Send us a sourced statement; it is published as written.
Look yourself: the council's election notices · the party's site · leaflets archived for this area (electionleaflets.org, a Democracy Club project).

2Elizabeth Beatrice Florence Keeling

Conservative and Unionist Party

3Claire McIlvenna

Green Party candidate

ShowHide

Money —Housing —Health —Education —Environment —Immigration —Crime —Defence & EU —Equality —0 in total

Democracy Club profile Party site

In their own words

No statement to voters supplied to Democracy Club.

Stood before

Staffordshire council, Wombourne ward, May 2025 (Green Party) — not elected
UK Parliament, Kingswinford And South Staffordshire, July 2024 (Green Party) — not elected
South Staffordshire council, Wombourne South ward, May 2023 (Green Party) — not elected
South Staffordshire council, Wombourne South East ward (by-election), October 2021 (Green Party) — not elected
Staffordshire council, Wombourne ward, May 2021 (Green Party) — not elected
UK Parliament, South Staffordshire, December 2019 (Green Party) — not elected
and 5 more; full history on their Democracy Club profile

Previous candidacies from Democracy Club. A record of standing, not a judgement.

Open Claire's page →

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the nine topics

Are you this candidate, or their agent? Send us a sourced statement; it is published as written.
Look yourself: the council's election notices · the party's site · leaflets archived for this area (electionleaflets.org, a Democracy Club project).

3Claire McIlvenna

Green Party

4Marie Shortland

Reform UK

ShowHide

Money —Housing —Health —Education —Environment —Immigration —Crime —Defence & EU —Equality —0 in total

Democracy Club profile Party site

In their own words

No statement to voters supplied to Democracy Club.

Stood before

Staffordshire council, Wombourne ward, May 2025 (Reform UK) — elected

Previous candidacies from Democracy Club. A record of standing, not a judgement.

Open Marie's page →

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the nine topics

Are you this candidate, or their agent? Send us a sourced statement; it is published as written.
Look yourself: the council's election notices · the party's site · leaflets archived for this area (electionleaflets.org, a Democracy Club project).

4Marie Shortland

Reform UK

5Anil Singh

Labour and Co-operative Party

ShowHide

Money 1Housing —Health —Education —Environment 1Immigration —Crime —Defence & EU —Equality —2 in total

Democracy Club profile

In their own words

Anil is proud to live in the friendly neighbourhood Lower Penn, close to the wonderful Wombourne village. He passionately beilieves local businesses should take priority for contracts with the local Council.

With very high levels of council tax, huge savings cound be generated by using systems thinking approaches by bringing the pothole fixing team in-house, devolving it to our District Council would create a more responsive service and end the cycle of botched repairs.

His highest priority is to promote 'good neightbours' across the District. Let's plant more trees, this will absorb carbon and enable nature to thrive.

Statement to voters supplied by the candidate to Democracy Club, retrieved 2026-09-19. Reproduced unedited.

Stood before

South Staffordshire council, Cheslyn Hay Village ward, May 2023 (Labour Party) — not elected

Previous candidacies from Democracy Club. A record of standing, not a judgement.

Open Anil's page →

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the nine topics

Candidate statements and leaflets are published as written; we check they are real, not that they are true. Switch between summaries and exact quotations with the control above the list.

Money and cost of living

What this candidate says

Candidate's own words · Anil Singh (candidate), via Democracy Club · Statement to voters: Anil Singh

Their position

With very high levels of council tax, huge savings cound be generated by using systems thinking approaches by bringing the pothole fixing team in-house, devolving it to our District Council would create a more responsive service and end the cycle of botched repairs.

What that means

Says local businesses should take priority for council contracts, and that bringing pothole repairs in-house and devolving them to the district council would save money and end botched repairs.

Retrieved 2026-09-19.

Housing and property

Nothing published on this yet.

Healthcare and social care

Nothing published on this yet.

Education and universities

Nothing published on this yet.

Environment, climate and energy

What this candidate says

Candidate's own words · Anil Singh (candidate), via Democracy Club · Statement to voters: Anil Singh

Their position

Let's plant more trees, this will absorb carbon and enable nature to thrive.

What that means

Says he wants more trees planted to absorb carbon and help nature thrive.

Retrieved 2026-09-19.

5Anil Singh

Labour and Co-operative Party

Photos: shown where one exists on Democracy Club (4 of 5 here); initials otherwise. A missing photo says nothing about the candidate. · How much sourced material we found per party · Why isn't my party standing here?

Last time in this seat: election of Thursday, 4 May 2023

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share
Dan Kinsey (elected)	Conservative and Unionist Party	891	21.2%
Barry Michael Bond (elected)	Conservative and Unionist Party	813	19.3%
Martin John Perry (elected)	Conservative and Unionist Party	680	16.1%
Ian Leonard Sadler	Green Party	425	10.1%
Margaret Rose Davidson	Labour Party	402	9.5%
Chris Wood	Labour Party	342	8.1%
Richard Blaikie	Heritage Party	208	4.9%
Claire Louise Male	Liberal Democrats	195	4.6%
Jon Thorpe	Green Party	149	3.5%
Mark Ronald Middleton	Liberal Democrats	107	2.5%

4,212 valid votes, turnout 31%. Result data from Democracy Club (source). Past results describe the past; each election is a new contest.

South Staffordshire: Wombourne North ward in numbers

Official open data about the area. It describes the place, not you, and it favours no candidate.

House prices in South Staffordshire

Average price £310,862, up 5.6% on a year earlier (July 2026).

Flats and maisonettes: £148,692
Detached houses: £453,103

Source: HM Land Registry UK House Price Index for the local authority (Open Government Licence). A local-authority average; prices within it vary widely.

Recorded crime nearby, July 2026

42 street-level crimes recorded within about a mile of the area's centre.

violent crime: 12
vehicle crime: 8
anti social behaviour: 5
criminal damage arson: 3
public order: 3
shoplifting: 3

Source: data.police.uk (Open Government Licence). Centroid of the ONS 2024 boundary. Statistics near this point describe the area, not any household. Recorded crime reflects reporting and policing as well as offending; see the ONS guidance in further reading.

South Staffordshire: Wombourne North ward in numbers

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Go deeper: independent sources

None of these is affiliated with a party. Where a source campaigns for a position, the label says so. Links open the original site.

Cross-cutting: polling, fact-checking, parliamentary research

Commons Library: constituency data dashboards — House of Commons Library. Parliamentary research service, impartial by statute.
electionleaflets.org: archive of election leaflets, searchable by area — Democracy Club. Civic-technology archive; leaflets are the parties' own material.
Electoral Commission: political finance register (donations, loans, spending) — Electoral Commission. Official register.
Full Fact — Full Fact. Independent fact-checking charity.
House of Commons Library research briefings — House of Commons Library. Parliamentary research service, impartial by statute.
Institute for Government — Institute for Government. Independent think tank on how government works.
Ipsos Issues Index: what the public says matters most — Ipsos. Polling company (monthly, unprompted survey).
LG Inform: council performance and finance data — Local Government Association. Sector body for councils.
Local Elections Archive Project: every council result since 2002 — Andrew Teale. Independent archive from Returning Officers' data, CC BY-SA.
mySociety Local Intelligence Hub: data by constituency — mySociety. Civic-technology charity; non-partisan.
UK Parliament: Commons votes (every division, how each MP voted) — UK Parliament. Official record, Open Parliament Licence.
UK Parliament: petitions, with signatures by constituency — UK Parliament. Official record.

Sources used on this page

Statement to voters: Anil Singh — Anil Singh (candidate), via Democracy Club, undated. Retrieved 2026-09-19. 2 quotations.

Candidate lists and nominations: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0). Tax and benefit figures: PolicyEngine UK, open source.

South Staffordshire: Wombourne North ward

Your local councillor

What this office decides

What it does not

The ballot paper

1Michael James Jones

In their own words

Stood before

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the nine topics

1Michael James Jones

2Elizabeth Beatrice Florence Keeling

In their own words

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the nine topics

2Elizabeth Beatrice Florence Keeling

3Claire McIlvenna

In their own words

Stood before

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the nine topics

3Claire McIlvenna

4Marie Shortland

In their own words

Stood before

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the nine topics

4Marie Shortland

5Anil Singh

In their own words

Stood before

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the nine topics

Money and cost of living

Housing and property

Healthcare and social care

Education and universities

Environment, climate and energy

5Anil Singh

South Staffordshire: Wombourne North ward in numbers

House prices in South Staffordshire

Recorded crime nearby, July 2026

South Staffordshire: Wombourne North ward in numbers

Go deeper: independent sources

Sources used on this page

1Michael James Jones

In their own words

Stood before

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the nine topics

2Elizabeth Beatrice Florence Keeling

In their own words

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the nine topics

3Claire McIlvenna

In their own words

Stood before

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the nine topics

4Marie Shortland

In their own words

Stood before

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the nine topics

5Anil Singh

In their own words

Stood before

Where this information comes from

Published positions on the nine topics

Money and cost of living

Housing and property

Healthcare and social care

Education and universities

Environment, climate and energy

Immigration and borders

Crime, policing and justice

Defence, foreign affairs and the EU

Equality and rights

South Staffordshire: Wombourne North ward in numbers

House prices in South Staffordshire