Labour group fears being 'wiped out' in 2027

The Labour group in Telford and Wrekin will have watched the results of the recent round of local elections from behind the sofa.

Seeing the party's support diminish in what were loyal areas of the West Midlands - such as Sandwell, Wolverhampton and Birmingham - will have unsettled the group as it gears up for its own election fight in 2027.

The results will have cemented a shift in Labour's focus from its usual rival in the borough - the Conservative group - to a new adversary on the rise: Reform UK.

Labour's Lord Sahota, who sat on Telford and Wrekin Council for decades before becoming a peer, said last week's eye-watering losses were worrying members ahead of all-out elections next May.

"We had a curry night last Saturday and there were big concerns from some of the councillors and Labour members that this [support for Reform] might affect them next year, and we could be wiped out," he said.

"We must be very, very careful.

"Telford and Wrekin councillors and Labour Party members are deeply concerned, and I hope everything turns out fine by next year when elections come around."

Reform's campaign to win seats in Telford is already under way.

Unlike last year's local elections, in which the party won 16 seats on neighbouring Shropshire Council having only had just a few months to prepare, the group in Telford is formed, knocking on doors and handing out leaflets.

As it stands, with no councillors on the borough council, Reform's political presence in the town amounts to only a few parish councillors.

It also recently contested two parish council by-elections and lost to Labour and the Conservatives.

Nevertheless, the national picture and political trend is unsettling Telford's Labour group, which has had significant influence in the town for a number of years, with a large council majority and both an MP in the House of Commons and peer in the House of Lords.

The group will desperately want residents that are happy with how the borough is being run, with its low council tax, award-winning green spaces and free garden waste collections, to vote to keep the council under Labour control, regardless of how they judge the success of the party in government.

But not all will.

Those feeling fed up, ignored and wanting change will do what so many people did last week, and that is to send a stark warning to Westminster via the ballot box.

It is this scenario that is worrying politicians like Lord Sahota - especially after an impressive set of local elections in 2023, when the party had record success in Telford and Wrekin.

These are early nerves, and anything could happen between now and May 2027.

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