THE last 12 months have been a turbulent year for Sandwell with changes that have rocked the political balance in the borough.

It began with eruptions in the political leadership of the local authority and ended with the once safe Labour stronghold of West Bromwich turning Blue as the Conservative party won a resounding victory in the general election.

In January, council leader Steve Eling’s Labour party membership was suspended following still unpublished complaints against him by party members.

By February he was forced to resign as political leader of the authority as local elections drew near and his suspension meant he could not stand as a candidate in his Bearwood seat. 

Mr Eling alleged he had been ‘stabbed in the back’ by  political opponents in the fractured party and was the victim of a political witch-hunt by national and regional officials.

His departure was followed by the de-selection of six sitting Labour councillors. 

He was replaced by Cllr Steve Trow as party leader but only for two months after he resigned on the same day the party won all of the 24 wards in May’s elections.

The resulting leader’s selection was overshadowed  by the effective expulsion of three Labour councillors –  two only hours before the crucial vote which Cllr Yvonne Davies won by 35 votes to 33. 

Speaking after her selection as council leader Cllr Davies said: “We are first and foremost public servants and people are entitled to expect and, indeed, they should demand that we will conduct ourselves with the utmost integrity and that we uphold the highest standards of the council.

“It is to the detriment of this council that in the past we have fallen short in this regard. Most of you know I’m direct in my approach and I won’t dodge difficult decisions and I will take all decisions without fear and without favour.

“There has been a deal of well documented discord in this council over recent years and I’m not going to rake over all that again because we really need to move on.”

One of the first steps the new administration took was £5 million bailout of Sandwell Children’s Trust after the arm’s length company which runs the children in care service ran into financial difficulties in its first year of operation.

Earlier in the year, the Trust revealed the number of looked-after youngsters cared for by the council had risen from 600 to 900 in the space of two years. 

Previously,  Ofsted criticised the service for delays which led to some children not being brought into care, while others who could have be discharged remained in the system.

Speaking in June, Cllr Davies promised there be a greater emphasis on preventative measures which would help avoid the ‘last resort’ of taking a child away from its family adding changes in staffing and an underestimation of the numbers of children the trust had to cope with had contributed to the funding crisis.  

A week later, in a shock announcement Sandwell’s Council’s chief executive, Jan Britton resigned saying his decision was taken because it was time to look for ‘new challenges’.

But the biggest political shake-up came this month as the Conservatives won the parliamentary constituencies of West Bromwich West and West Bromwich East after the sitting Labour MPs, Adrian Bailey and Tom Watson, both decided to step down and not contest the election. 

Those victories are the first time party has taken seats in the town since 1931 and came as the Tories won a massive majority in parliament. 

Next year could be as interesting as Ofsted prepares to publish its annual report into the Children Trust, expected in February, and observers wait to see if the resurgence of the Conservatives helps them win seats in May’s local elections.