Keir Starmer warns of independent vote as he takes election oath on visit to Willenhall

The Labor leader said there was still work to be done in the West Midlands after failing to take control of Dudley Council in this month’s local elections.

The region is likely to be crucial in determining who forms the next government, with seats in Labour’s sights, key marginal seats in the Black Country, Shropshire and Staffordshire.

Wolverhampton West has been identified as Labour’s number five target seats based on the required percentage change, with Walsall and Bloxwich and West Bromwich in the top 25. Other target seats are likely to include Tipton and Wednesbury, Shrewsbury and Telford.

Sir Keir warned that voting for independents was a recipe for more “chaos and division” under the Tories after independent candidate Akhmed Yakoob secured almost 70,000 votes in this month’s mayoral election.

A new group of three former councilors from Sandwell – a must-win area for Labor at the general election – have formed a new collective with a view to standing as independent candidates in the future.

Sir Keir visited GTG training in Willenhall with his deputy Angela Rayner and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, where they held a meeting with the party’s 11 elected mayors.

They include new West Midland Metro Mayor Richard Parker, who defeated incumbent Andy Street by a slim 1,508-vote majority in an election earlier this month.

The poll saw independent Akhmed Yakoob, who ran on an anti-labor platform, take third place with almost 70,000 votes.