New West Bromwich MP Sarah Coombes says people want one thing and ‘let us down’

Labor took control of West Bromwich with an emphatic victory that saw the party shut down Sandwell. The redrawn seat of West Bromwich, which replaced West Bromwich East, was won by Labour’s Sarah Coombes with 16,872 votes.

She won the seat of her old boss and former deputy Labor leader Tom Watson – securing a majority of 9,554 in West Bromwich on Thursday 4 July. Conservative candidate Will Goodhand finished second with 7,318 votes, closely followed by Reform in third, with Ray Nock receiving. 7,101 votes.

Ms Coombes, who advises Labor Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, told the count in Tipton on Friday morning: “I’m delighted, very excited about what’s to come and I’m really honored the good people of West Bromwich have chosen me to our son voice in Parliament.

READ MORE: 2024 general election results as Labor wins and city results filter in

“People want change, every day in this campaign people have said we need to fix the NHS, they are not happy that they don’t see the police on the streets, that they work hard and still can’t pay their bills. This is now the challenge of work to fix. It won’t be easy, but we are determined to do something about it.

“I don’t think the Tories (in Black Country) have served our area well, I think they’ve really let us down and tonight’s results show that people think the same.”

Elsewhere in the contest, Parmjit Singh Gill received 1,314 votes for the Liberal Democrats, Sam Harding received 133 votes for UKIP, Gita Joshi received 2,036 votes for the Greens and independent candidate Mohammed Yasin received 1,707 votes. Labor won all three seats in Sandwell – retaining the newly revived seat of Smethwick and winning West Bromwich and Tipton and Wednesbury back from the Tories.

The Conservatives won two historic victories in West Bromwich East and West Bromwich West in 2019 – winning the seats for the first time. Turnout in West Bromwich was 49%.

Read the full story on our election blog here.