2022 Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council election

2022 Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council election

←  2021 5 May 2022 (2022-05-05) 2023  →
17 out of 51 seats to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council 26 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Party Conservative Green Last election 30 seats, 46.8% 15 seats, 25.1% Seats before 30 12 Seats won 9 4 Seats after 28 14 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 24,826 8,792 Percentage 46.3% 16.4% Swing 0.5% 8.7%   Third party Fourth party   Party Liberal Democrats Independent Last election 3 seats, 11.9% 1 seat, 0.0% Seats before 3 5 Seats won 3 1 Seats after 5 4 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 9,173 1,957 Percentage 17.1% 3.7% Swing 5.2% N/A
Winner of each seat at the 2022 Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council election
Council control before election Conservative Council control after election Conservative

The 2022 Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect members of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council. This was on the same day as other local elections. 17 of the 51 seats were up for election. ^[1]

Background

Since its creation in 1974, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council has always had the Conservatives as the largest party. Labour came the closest to overtaking them in 1996, when they won 16 seats to the Conservatives' 17. ^[2] In the 2021 election, the Conservatives gained three seats on a vote share of 53.8% (+7.9), the Green Party gained 1 seat with 20.5% of the vote (-5.1), the Liberal Democrats lost 3 seats on 12.2% (-1.3), and Labour lost 1 seat on 12.9% (+0.9).

The seats up for election in 2022 were last elected in 2018. In that election, the Conservatives won 49.1% of votes and gained 2 seats from the Liberal Democrats, the Greens gained 1 seat from the Conservatives and won 25.1% of the votes, Labour gained 1 seat from UKIP and won 15.5%, and the Liberal Democrats lost 1 seat and achieved 11.9%. ^[3]

Previous council composition

After 2021 election			Before 2022 election [4]			After 2022 election [5]
Party		Seats	Party		Seats	Party		Seats
	Conservative	30		Conservative	30		Conservative	28
	Green	15		Green	12		Green	14
	Liberal Democrats	3		Liberal Democrats	3		Liberal Democrats	5
	Labour	2		Labour	0		Labour	0
	Independent	1		Independent	5		Independent	4

Changes:

• September 2021: Angela Sandison suspended from the Conservatives ^[6]
• October 2021: David Cole joins Conservatives from Labour, and Marcus Brain joins Greens from Labour ^[7]
• November 2021: Cheryl Buxton-Sait (Green) resigns from council; seat left vacant until 2022 election ^[8]
• February 2022: Andy Hodgson, Tim Hodgson, and Rosemary Sexton leave Greens ^[9]

Results

2022 Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	9	1	52.9	19	28	54.9	24,826	46.3	–0.5
	Green	4	1	23.5	10	14	27.5	8,792	16.4	–8.7
	Liberal Democrats	3	2	17.6	2	5	9.8	9,173	17.1	+5.2
	Independent	1	1	5.9	3	4	7.8	1957	3.7	N/A
	Labour	0	1	0.0	0	0	0.0	8,863	16.5	+1.0

Results by ward

An asterisk indicates an incumbent councillor.

Bickenhill

Bickenhill ^{[10] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gail Sleigh	1,544	58.5	2.9
	Labour	Margaret Brittin	589	22.3	5.1
	Green	Mark Pearson	296	11.2	4.5
	Liberal Democrats	Paul McCabe	211	8.0	3.5
Majority			955	36.2	?
Turnout			2640
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.3

Blythe

Blythe ^{[10] [12]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Holt*	1,936	55.2	12.5
	Labour	Jacqueline Sowsbery-Moore	667	19.0	5.2
	Green	Carol Linfield	472	13.5	4.3
	Liberal Democrats	John Wyatt	434	12.4	3.1
Majority			1269	36.2	?
Turnout			3509
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.8

Castle Bromwich

Castle Bromwich ^{[10] [13]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Feeney	1,556	57.7	30.7
	Green	Antony Lowe	606	22.5	41.7
	Labour	Emma Childer	535	19.8	10.7
Majority			950	35.4	2.1
Turnout			2697
	Conservative gain from Green		Swing	5.8

Chelmsley Wood

Chelmsley Wood ^{[10] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Stephen Rymer	1,094	67.1	10.8
	Labour	Hazel Dawkins	335	20.5	6.2
	Conservative	Steve Temperton	202	12.4	4.6
Majority			759	46.5	17.1
Turnout			1631		5.2
	Green hold		Swing	5.2

Dorridge and Hockley Heath

Dorridge and Hockley Heath ^{[10] [15]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Courts*	2,183	61.2	7.7
	Labour	David Brittin	524	14.7	4.8
	Green	Jane Holt	505	14.2	5.5
	Liberal Democrats	David Godfrey	354	9.9	2.6
Majority			1659	46.5	?
Turnout			3566
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.8

Elmdon

Elmdon ^{[10] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Laura McCarthy*	1,870	56.8	13.2
	Conservative	Leslie Kaye	1043	31.7	9.8
	Labour	Sarah Alan	381	11.6	3.4
Majority			827	25.1	?
Turnout			3294
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	11.5

Kingshurst and Fordbridge

Kingshurst and Fordbridge ^{[10] [17]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Bernadette Donnelly	652	37.7	32.7
	Conservative	David Cole*	620	35.8	1.3
	Labour	Sam Mather	459	26.5	20.5
Majority			32	1.8	?
Turnout			1731
	Green gain from Labour		Swing	39.2

Knowle

Knowle ^{[10] [18]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Diana Holl-Allen*	2,040	60.4	12.2
	Labour	Simon Johnson	484	14.3	2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Kate Jones	463	13.7	5.7
	Green	Mark Amphlett	390	11.5	4.1
Majority			1556	46.1	14.6
Turnout			3377
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.2

Lyndon

Lyndon ^{[10] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ade Adeyemo	1,797	48.2	17.0
	Conservative	Sardul Marwa	1443	38.7	1.7
	Labour	Sheila Brookes	489	13.1	15.3
Majority			354	9.5	?
Turnout			3729
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	9.6

Meriden

Meriden ^{[10] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Burrow	2,103	54.2	18.4
	Green	Sheila Cooper	1353	34.8	20.3
	Labour	Cathy Connan	427	11.0	1.8
Majority			750	19.3	?
Turnout			3883
	Conservative hold		Swing	13.3

Olton

Olton ^{[10] [21]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Carthew	2,154	52.8	11.1 *
	Conservative	Keith Green	1379	33.8	8.6 *
	Labour	Antony Oseland	543	13.3	1.2 *
Majority			775	19.0	?
Turnout			4076
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	9.8

• Compared to 2018 election results*

Shirley East

Shirley East ^{[10] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Annette Mackenzie*	1,839	55.9	2.8
	Labour	Gerard Dufficy	612	18.6	3.3
	Green	Akin Kog	470	14.3	5.5
	Liberal Democrats	Gayle Monk	366	11.1	6.1
Majority			1227	37.3	?
Turnout			3287
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.7

Shirley South

Shirley South ^{[10] [23]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Andy Hodgson*	1,809	49.4	10.9
	Conservative	Howard Nichols	1199	32.7	3.2
	Labour	Shirley Young	506	13.8	3.5
	Independent	Rosemary Worsley	148	4.0	-
Majority			610	16.7	14.1
Turnout			3662
	Independent gain from Green		Swing	2.4

*Andy Hodgson's changes are relative to when he stood in the 2018 Elections under the Green Party.

Shirley West

Shirley West ^{[10] [24]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Alison Wilson	1,549	48.5	11.8
	Conservative	Lachhman Bhambra	1041	32.6	3.1
	Labour	Kevin Round	607	19.0	8.7
Majority			508	15.9	14.9
Turnout			3197
	Green hold		Swing	3.0

Silhill

Silhill ^{[10] [25]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Gough*	1,960	55.8	7.8
	Labour	Nick Stephens	802	22.8	6.8
	Liberal Democrats	James Edwardson	753	21.4	7.0
Majority			1158	32.9	?
Turnout			3515
	Conservative hold		Swing	5.5

Smith's Wood

Smith's Wood ^{[10] [26]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Ben Groom*	993	63.4	3.8
	Labour	Keith Duggan	333	21.3	0.6
	Conservative	Lavanya Madras Purushothaman	240	15.3	4.8
Majority			660	42.1	3.3
Turnout			1566
	Green hold		Swing	2.1

St. Alphege

St. Alphege ^{[10] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Samantha Gethen	2,498	58.8	11.0
	Liberal Democrats	Frank Dawson	771	18.1	4.9
	Labour	Ian English	570	13.4	3.1
	Green	Trevor Barker	412	9.7	3.0
Majority			1727	40.6	?
Turnout			4251
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.6

References

1. "Election timetable in England". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
2. "Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council Election Results 1973-2012" (PDF). Elections Centre. p. 12. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
3. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2018 - Solihull". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
4. "Your Councillors by Party". Solihull.gov. 8 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
5. "Local elections 2022 results". 6 May 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
6. "Solihull councillor suspended by Tory party over autism comments". BBC News. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
7. Madeley, Peter (29 October 2022). "Labour wiped out on West Midlands authority as councillors cross floor". Express and Star. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
8. Collis, Emily (29 November 2021). "Green councillor resigns to help under pressure NHS". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
9. "Solihull Greens dealt further blows in political row". Solihull Observer. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
10. "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED" (PDF). Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
11. "Bickenhill - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
12. "Blythe - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
13. "Castle Bromwich - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
14. "Chelmsley Wood - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
15. "Dorridge and Hockley Heath - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
16. "Elmdon - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
17. "Kingshurst & Fordbridge - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
18. "Knowle - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
19. "Lyndon - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
20. "Meriden - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
21. "Olton - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
22. "Shirley East - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
23. "Shirley South - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
24. "Shirley West - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
25. "Silhill - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
26. "Smith's Wood - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
27. "St. Alphege - Election Result Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2022.