Photo: Cutler at English Wikipedia · Public domainReform UK holds a majority on Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
Blackheath is run by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. Reform UK has a majority on Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. Its MP is Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour), member for Smethwick.
£2,244
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Blackheath’s politics has changed since 2021
A majority on Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
Reform UK holds a majority on Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council: 41 of its 72 seats as elected. Labour holds 28, the Greens 2 and independents 1. Who’s in charge ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Blackheath is £2,244 for 2026–27; Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council keeps 85% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 61% in ten years, against England’s 56%. Council money ↓
Written from the data on this page: Democracy Club results since May 2021, the UK Parliament Members API and MHCLG council tax.
Who holds the seats
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 37 of Sandwell’s 72 seats to run the council alone.
- Reform UK41
- Labour28
- Green2
- Independent1
Latest election: May 2026.
Seats are counted from election results: each ward’s most recent winners until its seats are filled. Councillors who have since changed party or resigned aren’t reflected, and which parties lead the council, and who is leader, comes from the council itself.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), elections since May 2021; seats per ward from its EveryElection.
The councils that run Blackheath
One council runs every main service here.
Every main council service: schools, social care, roads, bins, planning, housing and libraries.
Website ↗Transport, skills and regeneration across several council areas. It is led by an elected mayor.
Mayor: Richard Parker (Labour and Co-operative), elected May 2024
Who to ask
From GOV.UK’s “Understand how your council works”: here one council runs every main service.
All of Blackheath is unparished: there is no parish or town council, so the council runs local matters itself and no parish precept is added to the bill.
Councils from ONS lookups (wards and councils May 2026, parishes 2025), names and websites from GOV.UK’s local council finder; parish councils from MHCLG’s 2026–27 list of precepting parishes.
From the council to Westminster
Every elected tier that speaks for Blackheath, from the most recent elections.
- 1Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council2 wards · 6 councillorsMike CooperDave WilliamsMona KhuranaPete DurnellPaul Christopher LeaveyTuli Zefi
- 2Mayor of West Midlands Combined AuthorityWest Midlands Combined Authority · elected May 2024Richard Parker
- 3Police and crime commissionerWest Midlands Police · elected May 2024Simon John Foster
- 4House of CommonsSmethwick
Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own. Tap an MP’s name for their contact page on parliament.uk.
6 councillors for 2 wards
Wards with at least 2% of the town’s residents, or half their own inside it. Each shows who won its most recent elections, newest first, until its seats are filled.
- Mike CooperReform UK · May 2026
- Dave WilliamsReform UK · May 2026
- Mona KhuranaReform UK · May 2026
- Pete DurnellReform UK · May 2026
- Paul Christopher LeaveyReform UK · May 2026
- Tuli ZefiReform UK · May 2026
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackheath43% in Blackheath · 6,207 residents3 seats · May 2026 | 3 | Mike CooperDave WilliamsMona Khurana | May 2026 |
| Langley5% in Blackheath · 743 residents3 seats · May 2026 | 3 | Pete DurnellPaul Christopher LeaveyTuli Zefi | May 2026 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council’s website lists who sits now.
Results from Democracy Club’s candidates database (CC BY 4.0; elections since May 2021) and ward seats from its EveryElection, matched to ONS wards (May 2026) and county divisions (May 2025).
Sandwell council election, May 2026
Results in the wards that make up Blackheath, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
2 wards voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.
No election is scheduled yet for Blackheath’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗11,067 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
9,985 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Blackheath is in Smethwick constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Blackheath).
35,115 votes for candidates · majority 11,188
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 35,115 votes from 72,863 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 11,188 of 35,115 votes (31.9%): wider than in 87% of England’s 543 constituencies.
MPs and results: UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0); constituencies from ONS (2024 boundaries). Percentages are of valid votes; turnout is votes cast over the electorate.
Blackheath’s Band D council tax is £2,244 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council keeps £1,914.77 of a Band D bill (85%); the rest goes to the West Midlands police and crime commissioner and the West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority.
Band D since 1993
Sandwell’s Band D bill has risen 61% in ten years, from £1,390.22 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £610.88 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in the unparished part of Sandwell, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
West Midlands’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included. Bars start at £2,000.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with West Midlands
| Sandwell | Blackheath’s councils | West Midlands | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £522 | £502 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £317 | £351 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £32 | £92 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £53 | £59 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £137 | £111 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £41 | £46 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £64 | £16 | £26 |
| Public health | £103 | £106 | £78 |
| Running the council | £59 | £41 | £59 |
| Other | £33 | £25 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,360 | £1,349 | £1,234 |
Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Schools are left out: academies are paid for directly by government, so council school budgets depend on how many schools have converted. West Midlands and England: all their councils together. Police, fire and transport authorities aren’t included.
Band D: MHCLG Band D council tax 2026–27 (each authority’s own figure, excluding parish precepts) and Council Tax statistics for town and parish councils 2026–27; since 1993–94, MHCLG’s area averages including parishes.
Having a say in how Blackheath is run
It takes about five minutes online; the deadline is 12 working days before a poll.
gov.uk ↗Type a postcode to write to each of its councillors and its MP.
WriteToThem ↗GOV.UK sends the report to the council that looks after the road.
gov.uk ↗Council and committee meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.
sandwell.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
sandwell.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Blackheath is run
Does Blackheath have a town council?
No. Blackheath is unparished, so there is no town or parish council and no parish precept.
Who is the MP for Blackheath?
Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour) is the MP for Smethwick, which covers Blackheath.
How many councillors does Blackheath have?
6 ward councillors represent Blackheath’s 2 wards.
When are the next elections in Blackheath?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Blackheath’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Blackheath?
Band D council tax in Blackheath is £2,244 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council?
Reform UK has a majority: 41 of 72 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who won the 2026 council election in Blackheath?
In Blackheath’s wards on 7 May 2026, Reform UK 6 of the 6 seats up. Reform UK had the largest share of votes, 45.3%.
Sources: ONS ward, county division, parish, constituency lookups (Census 2021 output areas; Open Government Licence v3.0) · GOV.UK local council finder · Democracy Club candidates (CC BY 4.0) and EveryElection · UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0) · MHCLG Band D council tax, parish precepts and Revenue Account budgets 2026–27 (OGL v3.0) · ONS mid-2025 population estimates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.