http://www.tiptontogether.info/

Tipton Together, 30 Castle Road, Tipton (2026)

07/05/2026

Me and St Matthew, where the church hall is for my local polling station.

I've been around and about during the day, and it looks like the turn-out is higher than average.

Please don't miss the chance to vote, and to encourage everyone you know to make me one of their choices.

It is possible to vote for 2 candidates for the party of your choice - Reform, Labour, Green, or Conservative - and reserve one vote for the local, independent, neutral candidate. And I promise to fight for Tipton, whatever is going on in the Council.

And it might be a bumpy ride. It feels to me as if Reform is doing well. I mean no disrespect to the three candidates who are offering themselves to you alongside me and 9 others. Matt, Tim, and Abdul may have lots to offer our community. If you've spoken to them or emailed or phoned them, you might have assured yourself of that.

But Reform's campaign has been largely about its leader, and about issues like the cost of living, immigration, and the police. Farage ought to know that no local councillor can fix these things. And about getting rid of Starmer.

Nobody is more angry than me with the direction of Labour under our Prime Minister, and I would be delighted if he resigned. But the fact is that, if and when he goes, he will be replaced by Streeting, Reeves, or another senior Labour politician. And Labour will stay in control, because the next General Election is not until 2029.

Don't decide on your local representatives based on Farage's dishonest pipe-dream about what dreadful results for Labour might trigger. That won't get you the Councillors you need. That won't fix Tipton's problems.

And don't do it on the say-so of someone who gets 5 million quid to spend, as a personal gift, from a shadowy billionaire in Thailand. That kind of greed in an already wealthy public figure should be shunned and despised by anybody in our town. I'm shocked that any Tipton resident thinks Farage is the answer.

I will agree if you tell me you're fed up with the same old politics - both Conservative and Labour Governments have created the mess we're in, and my disgust at both is why I'm outside politics now. But are you sure that the Reform offer in Sandwell is all that fresh? How many former Tories?

So please give me your trust in today's important vote. Please don't vote for three of any party just because you feel they're your party, or because national politics is broken (I agree).

We can fix Tipton's problems if we work together, but we need a local, experienced, honest, independent Councillor to stand up for our town.

3 and a half hours to go until polling closes!
Thank you for your support.
Richard

07/05/2026

ELECTION DAY

Tipton Green ward chooses three Councillors today.

Polls open at 7 am and close at 10 pm.

Please contact me if I can help, if you're confused about what's different this year - massive ballot paper, three or two or one crosses, new polling stations for many of us in the ward, remembering your photo ID to be able to vote.

We've seen an unusual campaign, where four political parties have put up three candidates each. I don't think all of these candidates expect to have a chance of winning, and I don't know if some of them have even been to Tipton in the last seven weeks.

It was important to the political parties that a candidate was proposed for every seat, so Green, Labour, Conservative and Reform have found candidates for all 72 seats. I'm outside party politics so I think this was a mistake and against the spirit of a local election.

All four parties across Sandwell are proposing candidates who are there in name only, and I think this is pretty offensive to the residents who deserve people who want to do the job, who have spent months working out what the job entails, who have been offering themselves to the communities they live in long before the nomination process closed on March 20.

The 13 candidates here in Tipton Green include some who have been working for this day for months, even years. When I won in May 2024, I achieved something I'd been working towards since March 2019, and I'd failed four times along the way. Today offers the chance of a full four-year term (which wasn't available two years ago), so you could say today is the end of that same process - 7 and a bit years trying to win your trust.

While there are some candidates on this ballot paper who haven't been to Tipton, haven't knocked a single door, delivered a single leaflet, or stood on a single street corner to talk to residents and listen to your concerns and be privileged to hear your stories.

So good luck to all 12 of my comrades. But I hope residents will reward those of us who live here, who are seen about town in every community, who are approachable and engaged even when residents are upset and angry, who can try to find solutions within our Council and other agencies for every problem you're facing, while we live together in this wonderful town.

I know that some people will be voting today because of national issues. I think this is a mistake. I know how much Starmer is loathed (Labour is too embarrassed to have him on their leaflets) and he may even resign in the near future if today's results are as bad as people think, but you won't change the government. Prime MInister Streeting or Reeves or someone similar won't get you what you want if you're hoping for an end to Labour control in London. And one party leader has featured strongly on leaflets around Tipton - leaflets that were printed in London or Preston, containing a 'personal' message that was aimed at 50 million people, without any reference to the Midlands, or Sandwell, or Tipton. That's the same party leader who has accepted 5 million quid as a personal donation from a billionaire. That's pretty disgusting when you look at Tipton's problems and wonder how we're going to fix them. Starmer and Farage are the same - a political elite who has no interest in people like you and me.

So please think about who the candidates are when you're making your choices today. You can vote for THREE, or just one or two. Vote for the personalities behind the names. Think about where candidates live, if they've made you aware of that or you know anyway. Think about their records - two of us out of the 13 are Councillors already, and I'd like you to consider what we've done, how much we're known in the community, how accessible we are. Think about what you know about these people as people. You may have met or spoken to or called or emailed all of the 13 candidates in the last 7 weeks, or only some of them. Who do you think listens? Who do you trust to stand up for your problems and to fight for our wonderful town for the next few years?

I hope you can make me one of your choices.

I don't know when or if I'll be checking Facebook. Please don't get mad if I don't respond immediately. I am Independent, non-aligned, politically neutral. I don't get a salary to be your Councillor, and I work without staff, so sometimes things get missed.

And please be kind to all candidates today. It's a pretty scary and uncomfortable thing to do to put your name, and even your home address, out there. The loss of privacy is quite a shock. I can't tell you how many people tell me their opinions on what time my living-room curtains were open on any given morning. Not every public servant works in this way, and I'm not always happy about this side of things. I am entitled to a private life. But I also want to be a Councillor that cares and that listens.

Most of all, we can fix Tipton's problems if we work together. I hope I can be a small part of that process to build a better Tipton over the coming years - safer, cleaner, healthier, happier. And I want to be your elected servant after today's choices are counted up.

Contact me if you need help today, and I will try to check all my means of communication as often as I can.

Thank you!
Richard

06/05/2026

LAST BUT ONE CAMPAIGN DAY!

Here is today's post from the series created by my friend for me.

As I said on other days, you can tell they're in a very different style from my usual stuff. But they're really punchy, and I know supporters have been enjoying them. So thank you!

Please share if you want to help me and you think your friends would appreciate it.

Just one thing - I'm pretty sure that you shouldn't trust your postal vote to the post today. If you put it in the box and they don't receive it by 10 pm tomorrow night, it won't be counted. If I have hundreds of votes that arrive on Friday morning they're all wasted.

In practice that means that if it doesn't arrive with the elections office tomorrow morning (Thursday) it won't count.

If you haven't sent your postal vote back yet (and I'm writing this at 6 on Wednesday morning) I think you should take it to a polling station during polling hours tomorrow (Thursday, the day of the election - open from 7 am to 10 pm.)

You can use any polling station as long as it's in Tipton Green ward. There are six of them, and, if you want to know where they are, message me. You will need to fill in a form to say who you are and that you're leaving your own vote, but you don't need to take Photo ID (as those of us who are voting tomorrow will).

If you can't take it into a polling station, please ask a friend or neighbour to do it for you. I'm afraid I'm not allowed to do this. They will need to fill in a very short form too, to say that they're handing in your form.

Some of these rules are new. The elections office, here and all over the country, has tightened the rules about postal votes.

Please contact me if you need any more information.

And vote Independent with one of your votes, for a strong local voice for Tipton!

Thank you!
Richard

05/05/2026

Yesterday I posted some material that was sent to me by a supporter who is very well-versed in political campaigning and who cares a great deal about Sandwell and Tipton in particular.

I sent out a flyer about me, and a post especially designed for Monday of this week.

They caused quite a stir. Lots of people got in touch to say they liked them and found them helpful, and several people shared them. I am really grateful to my friend for his generosity in helping my campaign in this way.

Here is Tuesday's flyer. I'm very passionate about Victoria Park, as you all know. What do you think? Any contributions on Messenger warmly welcomed.

In my time as a Councillor, I have found the money for extensive works on the new drainage system near the Queen's Road entrance, and, during this winter and spring, it seems to have fixed the flooding which has been a problem for decades, even though we have had a huge amount of rain. I support the new clubs which have been set up in the last year (walking, cycling, bowls) and the new angling club starting soon - I act as liaison between the people who lead these activities and the Parks department. I have encouraged the new Friends of Victoria Park which is launched this year, in time for our 120th anniversary in July. I have worked with the police on every incident where public safety has been at risk on the park. So, while we have a little way to go, I have made a difference already to how we enjoy this beautiful space.

I would make three comments about the attachment, though:

First, the computer-assisted imagery has given us some background images which aren't from Victoria Park. I think this encourages us to think about parks in general. You know I post pictures of Victoria Park all the time.

Next, I don't think, at this stage, you should post your postal votes back if you haven't already. If they're not received by 10 pm on Thursday night they won't be counted. If they arrive on Friday morning they are wasted. I don't trust the post to get them back even if you post them today (Tuesday). You can take them into any polling station in the ward (it doesn't have to be your nearest) during polling hours on Thursday (7 am to 10 pm) and you will have to fill a short form in to say who you are. Or someone can take them in for you (but they will also have to fill in a form). Ask me if you need some help with how this process works. Don't miss out on having your say.

And finally I never forget that Victoria Park isn't our only green space. We have the glorious canal network that gives us more miles of canal than Venice (or so I'm told). And we have the Cracker. Even with the boundary change half of the Cracker is still in the ward I'm hoping to represent, and I was pleased that I was able to contribute from my Councillor's budget to improvement of the paths in the Cracker in the last few months. If you don't know it, please visit - it's not the same experience as Victoria Park, but it is beautiful too.

Please use our parks and green spaces, and please vote so I can keep fighting for you to get the best out of them.

And thank you again for this brilliant flyer!
Richard

05/05/2026

3 DAYS TO GO!

The election is the day after tomorrow. Polling stations open on Thursday at 7 am, and they're open until 10 pm.

Here is what the ballot paper will look like - enormous, isn't it? One of the wards in Sandwell has 15 candidates - ours is only 13.

There are three candidates (one for each available seat) for four political parties, plus me.

We are in alphabetical order of surname, so I'm No. 8. I'm the only candidate without a party emblem between our names and the box where you put your cross.

You get THREE votes. We are electing THREE Councillors and the length of service before the next election in that seat varies. This is quite complicated, and very annoying, but only the candidate who gets the most votes gets the usual 4-year term, with the next election for that seat in 2030.

I want to encourage people to think local - perhaps you can help me. This election is to choose three people to have a role in public service for our part of Tipton and its 15,000 or so residents, without a salary, without any staff. You pick the people you can trust to make a difference to our lives, in making sure you get the best services out of Sandwell Council, your voice is heard, and the Council's processes are honest and easy to understand. You want people who are going to work hard for you and for Tipton.

This election is not about who is Prime Minister right now, or next week, or next year. The Labour Government will be in power in London until 2029 (bet you 50 quid it is) and, while there is a chance that Starmer himself might be moving on before then (or even next week), ask yourself if you would prefer Prime Minister Streeting or Reeves.

People are aligned to political parties for lots of reasons. I have been, earlier in my life. Usually people want to improve our society and want to work with others with similar views about what needs to change, who needs to benefit, what we do to get a better country. All of this is really interesting and it will have an influence on the next time we're asked to make choices as a nation (more than 3 years in the future).

But this election is about having a brighter and safer and cleaner Victoria Park. It's about if we keep Tipton Library open. It's about what Owen Street will look like in a few months' time, or what it will feel like to have 200 new people living in Union Street. It's about talking to the police, the council's neighbourhood teams, the agencies who work in public health, addiction, bereavement, education, social care - and getting the right answers and the right commitment from all of these people for a better, safer, healthier Tipton. It's about who we can trust to do all of these things for us (for no salary and with no staff).

So please do as much research as you can. Speak to every candidate you can find. Ask them directly and personally for their views and their intentions if they're lucky enough to win your trust.

You can start with the political party you favour, if you like. There has been more of a campaign from Labour and Reform, as far as I can see, than from Conservative or Green. I am intrigued that Reform have boasted about their leader - while some of us have had a leaflet with names and faces of candidates, most of the literature (printed in Preston and London) has had big pictures of Nigel Farage. And I note that Labour's literature (as far as I have seen) is ashamed of their leader, even though he's Prime Minister and he won a landslide victory in Parliament less than two years ago. It's a funny world, politics.

But don't just vote for your political party, if you have one. Whether you admire a political leader has little or nothing to do with how a candidate responds when someone rings them in the middle of the night because they are suffering from domestic violence. Or how they deal with a tree that's landed on their house. Or how they mediate between neighbours whose dispute has led to violence. I've been part of all of these in my short time as a Councillor. I hope I've been able to find the right help to make sorting these things out as quick and easy as possible. But I can tell you that I haven't, at any point, considered if I'm right-wing or left-wing, or what my party leader would think, or what local party bosses would prefer - and I wouldn't expect any local Councillor of whatever party to do so either.

For a local voice on Sandwell Council for Tipton, vote INDEPENDENT on Thursday.

Talk to me (Messenger, or by phone or email at the top of this page) if you need to know more about why I'm your best choice.

Thank you!
Richard

04/05/2026

I thought you might like this image from late last night - part of the team who spent hours covering a big chunk of the ward with my posters. I'm deeply grateful to them. Unlike the political parties, I have no money - I do all my own delivery, unlike them, and I don't pay people to put my posters up, unlike them.

There's another session this evening, and I hope that, with a day or two to go, people get the message.

You can vote for a party's candidates if you like, but the only candidate who cares enough about Tipton to get the changes that Tipton needs is the Independent.

And, unlike them, I've got my name up on the boards, ugly and unusual though it is.

Vote for the Independent candidate on Thursday!

04/05/2026

My friend who came up with the brilliant flyer in the previous post has also provided this for today's campaign pitch.

I think you can tell it wasn't composed by me, but I bet some people think it's a lot better messaging. It's certainly pretty punchy, and I'm delighted with it.

Thank you!

04/05/2026

4 DAYS TO GO!

The election is the day after the day after tomorrow, so there are four days of campaigning left - I will be probably be campaigning until a minute to 10 pm on Thursday evening.

I have been sent the attached flyer by someone who wants me to win.

They have done this completely unsolicited, and it's not my style, I think you'd agree. But I think it's brilliant, and I'm very grateful. What do you think?

Lots of letters out today. I've got one more push to get my last-minute reminder flyers out - I'm still aiming to get one into every letterbox, and I only started on Thursday - I've done 59 miles' walk in that time. But today I'm sending letters, and I'm doing a lot of driving - these are for people I'm fairly sure already vote for me, to make sure they're going to, and to ask them to continue to promote me to their family and friends all the way to Thursday.

You may have seen quite a few posters in people's windows around town. I'm very grateful to them, and of course they can put them in the recycling at 10 pm on Thursday.

Thank you!
Richard

03/05/2026

Good morning!

I've just said on my Councillor account that I'll be very brief, but I wasn't - I got a bit passionate about the political choices before us. And I will have to be brief here because I must get out and deliver before the rain comes on!

I thought, in this campaign zone today, I'd share this remarkable image which was published 2 years ago today. The election was the day before, and the count was on the Friday. So this was the result after the last local elections.

You can see that Labour won 22 out of the 24 seats, almost every one in Sandwell. It's interesting that the Conservatives held on to only one. Cllr Gill is hoping to continue as a Councillor in Great Bridge after the election on Thursday, but he's not a Conservative any longer. And, apart from him, the only other seat that wasn't a Labour win was in Tipton Green. You can see that my win two years ago is coloured a rather boring grey.

Nobody, not even the most optimistic Labour Party activist, expects the map of results after Thursday to look like this. We are expecting some, or many, Reform wins. And the fact that this is an 'all-up' election means that this map could look entirely turquoise - Reform could win 72 out of 72 seats.

I'm asking voters to vote for real people to represent them, not a party. You know that I would prefer to cut party politics out of local government entirely. I hated it before I was a Councillor, and I hate it even more after two years of it. Too much energy is wasted in working out how to win for your tribe or beat the other tribe, when we should be working for our neighbours to get the best out of OUR Council. If we were only names (and addresses) on a piece of paper, we would have to work harder, as individuals, to win your trust. And you would end up with better Councillors that way, because you would decide which of us was likely to work the hardest, or listen the most, or question the officers the most, or examine the books and the economy the most, or come up with the best ideas.

I hope I can persuade enough people to choose me so that I can continue in public service for the town I live in and enjoy living in. And I hope that we get the best three individuals out of the thirteen on offer, whether that's me or not.

But don't use how you would vote in a national election to decide your vote in a local election, without thinking about local issues. We have to fix Tipton, and only local people know how to do that best.

Thank you!
Richard

02/05/2026

I'm about halfway through getting my last-minute reminder leaflet out to every letterbox.

It's the second time I've gone round everybody since the campaign started six weeks ago. There are 5,836 letterboxes in this ward, and it's about 75 miles' walk. It usually takes me a fortnight. I also did a round in late summer, and one in January. This time I'm trying to get round in four or five days.

I did 19 and a half miles on Thursday, and 17 and a half yesterday, and I think I'm a little under halfway through. If I really push during tomorrow, I might finish by bedtime. I've got two more targeted mailings, to a few hundred each, I want to get out on Monday and Tuesday.

I had a function during the day yesterday, where I was invited by a community to talk to them, and they were very interested in what I'm offering, so I didn't mind missing a chunk of delivery time.

And this morning I've had a surgery in the library so I still haven't delivered a single leaflet yet and it's lunchtime!

Please have a read of the attached. I didn't create it, and I'd like to know who did so I can credit them. It expresses a lot of the things I've been trying to get out there in recent weeks, but a bit more clearly than I've managed so far!

Your vote in a local election can create political waves - I'm not denying that. There is a chance that the current Prime Minister, who is clearly much loathed (not least by me), will resign if the results for his party are as bad as they are projected to be. But he doesn't have to, and he may not. If he does resign, the Labour Party will find a new leader, as the Conservatives did several times without a General Election. With the numbers of Labour MPs in Parliament, we can expect no General Election before the middle of 2029.

If you vote for people you don't know because you want to trigger a General Election, you are wasting your vote in local government. You won't get the General Election, and you will get people you might find you can't trust in positions of some power and responsibility over services in Sandwell.

The 'personal message' from Farage that some households got this week (printed in London without any reference to our local area or any of his party's candidates here in Tipton) says vote Reform to get Starmer out. That is not a reason for voting for anybody on Thursday.

You may want to vote Reform because you like their candidates. I've met two out of the three, and one of those lives in this ward. I am pleased that they have sent round a leaflet with their photos and some information about their priorities. They haven't knocked my door (and I wouldn't expect that) but I believe some engagement has happened in our streets. I wish them well, as I do all 12 candidates who are offering themselves alongside me to be your Councillor.

But don't vote Reform because Nigel Farage pretends this will change the government.

Vote Local. Vote for someone you know, someone you see about town, someone who has made a difference in our local community.

And call me if you want to hear more about what I'm offering.
Thank you!
Richard

Tipton Together

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