The Black Country Party is a democratic community led party, founded in 2025.

OUR OBJECTIVES

• To build a better, fairer and inclusive Black Country for all that live here

• To campaign for the interests of our community, to be decided by the people of our community

• To uphold the principles of inclusive democracy and uplift the voices of our members and those that we wish to represent.

• To oppose all forms of ideology based on hatred and bigotry

OUR VALUES

• Show solidarity - unite, support each other, work together and fight for a common cause across the Black Country

• Be decent - treat others well, be honest and act in good faith

• Help out - help each other to create a society in which everyone is treated fairly

• Take part - this land is our land, to care for and protect forever.

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

• Ability to contribute and vote on The Black Country Party policy

• Invitations to meetings and party conference

• Access to our Party Discord

• Member-only social events

FEES

• £4 per month waged

• £2 per month unwaged

• £40 per year waged

• £20 per year unwaged

The Black Country Party was founded in 2025 in response to the failure of the established national parties to address the needs of our community. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our communities and wish to unite and celebrate all that makes us the 'BOSTIN' BLACK COUNTRY'.

There can be no doubt that the challenges we face are substantial and diverse, including high rates of poverty, lack of secure housing, and soaring energy prices. We have been let down by national parties that consistently put the interests of the privileged few over the interests of the many. There is a alternative, and that alternative, here in the Black Country is the Black Country Party.

LOCAL COUNCILS

Local government forms an essential part of our democracy, but all too often it is opaque and at a far remove from the people it is supposed to serve. We will make councils transparent — and our councillors will really work for the people in their communities. We will be accountable and available throughout the year, responding to local and not national issues. We will not be reliant on voting in line with national parties or their leaders. We will always speak and vote in the interests of the community we serve.

FAIR CONTRACTING

We will give councils more flexibility on the requirements they can set for tender agreements, so that they can consider the social good instead of just value-for-money. This will allow them to prioritise our communities, the people who work for them, and the environment over short-term cost-saving and contractors' profits. We will promote local contracts to support local jobs.

COUNCIL MEETING RECORDINGS

We will make full video recordings of council proceedings available promptly so as to improve accountability among councillors and to ensure that voters gain a better understanding of the people who represent them. To ensure these records are accessible to everyone, we will provide versions including BSL interpretation and closed captions.

HAVING OUR SAY

We will actively consult communities throughout our planning processes and work directly with them to co-produce services. To build long-term conversations about what we want our local areas and communities to be, everyone must be able to have their say.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE TRANSPARENCY

We will improve transparency when working with Community Interest Companies and other social enterprises by requiring that any receiving public funds must publish annual reports on how those funds have been used. While we would prefer to spend all public money in-house, we recognise that CICs and other social enterprises can provide services that local councils cannot feasibly offer through the public sector while Westminster holds our purse strings.

ETHICAL INVESTMENTS AND PENSIONS

We will ensure that council pensions and investments are ethically invested, and we will divest from harmful industries such as fossil fuels, the arms trade, and countries with ongoing human rights crises.

MODERN COMMITTEE SYSTEM

Most councils currently run on a ‘strong leader and cabinet’ system, where the largest party runs the council and the other parties act as opposition. This leads to the same problems as Westminster, where those who voted for a minority party are left without a voice.

To address this, we will change councils to run on a ‘modern committee’ system, where all councillors are actively involved in decision making. This will ensure that all wards have an equal voice in decisions made by their council.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

We will adopt Freedom of Information policies that are more open and informative than statute requires. We will pre-emptively publish information that is in the public interest as standard practice, adopting the attitude that the public should not have to ask what they have the right to know.

PUBLIC SERVICES FOR THE PUBLIC WE SERVE

We will work to maintain our services in public ownership.

ANTI-AUSTERITY PARTY

We will work with others to oppose all Council cuts and demand fair funding for the Black Country. The Black Country Party is a proud Anti-Austerity Party and believes that hard working people should not pay the price. The poorest should not have to pay for the reckless decisions of the privileged few.

HOUSING 

We believe that everyone within their local community and within the Dudley borough and beyond has the right to a warm, safe affordable home within a thriving neighbourhood that has access to a full range of services such as health centres , library , community centres etc and Public open space. 

We believe that a more Health and Wellbeing centred approach to the issue of housing will lead to better outcomes , lower demand for a range of public services and a sense of local pride and hope for the future. A healthy, happy community is a productive community and this in turn will have a positive effect on local economies. 

We will campaign for the further reduction of discount on council homes under right to buy and the deployment of all capital receipts from council house sales,  land receipts and available surplus within the HRA to build new homes for social rent or to retrofit and insulate existing council stock to bring it in line with Decent homes standards and Future homes standards.

We will campaign for a more enabling approach within council to the formation of a Community Land Trust approach to community ownership of ACV’s ( Assets of Community Value ) in line with the recently re released Towns Fund alongside the establishment of Community Led Housing , Cooperative housing , Self build , Co Housing and a range of innovative means to rebalance the Housing Market locally and create more affordable rental stock. 

We will campaign to support and enable greater control and stewardship of existing local housing stock through locally based TMO’s , residents associations and other community based organisations.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 

We will campaign for a more enabling approach to Community Led Development in general allowing local stakeholders and communities the opportunity to engage earlier in the process of place making and more strategic development plans . The current system of “ consultation” after the event undermines local democracy,  we seek to rebuild a “ sense of ownership and civic pride within our local communities which will enhance the democratic process.

ARTS AND HERITAGE

Our Black Country is proud, bostin’ diverse and distinctive. Our culture should be celebrated and made accessible to all, not locked away as the preserve of the wealthy.

We will work with all to ensure that we celebrate our history, use art and heritage to forge our future and promote what we proudly offer. July 14th is Black Country Day and we will work with schools, colleges, businesses and voluntary groups to promote our community throughout the year.

The Black Country Party believes that celebrating our heritage and promoting our communities can instil both pride and economic prosperity.

LOCAL ARTS

We will foster local artists and writers of all kinds by offering grants for public artworks, providing council-owned spaces for workshops, events, and studios, and requiring local property owners to make long-term vacant properties available at heavily discounted rates. 

We will also provide guidance for local creatives who want to set up co-operatives, and where possible we will work with local institutions to fund long-term residencies. 

We will also work with local street artists, not against them, by preserving street murals and commissioning new ones where wanted by local communities. We will work with artists representatives such as the Musicians Union as well as local media and community groups  to promote our music and performance.

CULTURAL OUTREACH

We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to participate in the arts. To give everyone that opportunity we will fund new arts centres and programmes in rural areas and towns: too many arts institutions are based in large cities, and we must redress this imbalance. We will also fund outreach programmes to make those cultural experiences only available in our major cities available to all.

OUR HERITAGE

We will preserve Black Country heritage and make it accessible to all by increasing funding for museums, art galleries, community art studios, theatres and music venues.

PUBLIC SPACES

Everyone should have access to freely available public spaces, for leisure, work, and education.

We will develop Neighbourhood Plans in designated areas established by the local planning authority to identify and protect green spaces as part of the public realm. We believe that maintaining and improving the quality of our neighbourhoods is a key factor in attracting investment, jobs and growth to areas as well as supporting healthy lifestyles and community well-being.

COMMUNITY SPACES

We will ensure community venues such as leisure centres, youth centres, community halls, and libraries have the funding they need to be fully staffed and well equipped. These spaces are vital for creating a sense of community and fighting social isolation, and access to them should not be reliant on charity or the work of volunteers.

Any venues receiving public funding will be required to provide their staff with fair pay and stable working hours, so that our communities will have the best support possible. Venues that are open to children will be required to maintain high standards of safeguarding and will be provided with the resources they need to achieve this.

We will fully fund libraries by reversing the cuts to their budgets made under austerity, and increase library coverage to areas that have had their libraries closed. We will also bring libraries back into council or community not-for-profit ownership, and ensure they are fully staffed by professional librarians. A public service as vital as our libraries should not be treated as a luxury and left to run on the goodwill of overworked volunteers.

As the Black Country recovers from the impact of the pandemic, support for pubs and music venues is a must. We will ensure that these venues will be protected from speculation by private developers and malicious noise complaints.

PROPERTY REGISTER

We will create a public register of property owners, to improve transparency and hold landlords accountable for leaving high street premises empty or charging unreasonable rents. No one’s livelihood or access to services should be reliant on a landlord they’ve never met.

HIGH STREETS

We will use Community Land Trusts to allow towns and villages to collectively own High Street properties. They will be able to set rents and service standards in accordance with local need, and this will give communities a direct say in what is on their high streets.

We will fund the purchase of commercial properties by councils or community groups, with priority given to large units that can be subdivided and serve many purposes for the community (such as former department stores). This will prevent socially useful properties falling into the private market and becoming yet more luxury apartments or hotels.

We will campaign for business rate reform so that large online retailers pay their fair share. It is wrong that local businesses shoulder the heaviest burden. We will also combat property speculation and lower business rents by increasing rates on long-term vacant premises.

We will prioritise the redevelopment of our town and city centres by pausing the creation of out-of-town retail space, including supermarkets. These developments have hollowed out our once vibrant high streets in favour of bland retail parks that are inaccessible without a car.

Given the shift in shopping patterns in recent years, we will actively work with local residents and businesses to look at how our high streets can adapt and remain successful in the future with particular emphasis on attracting businesses and activities that increase footfall into our town centres and high streets.

AIR QUALITY

We will improve air quality by reducing traffic. We will achieve this through improved public transport, better pedestrian access to city and town centres, and increased cycling infrastructure.

BINS

Our councillors will push for more bins to be placed in and around urban green spaces as well as local beauty spots, and also ensure that they are regularly emptied so that our natural heritage is not ruined by litter every sunny day. We will use all means at our disposable to identify, pursue and prosecute those individuals and businesses that fly tip and in other ways pollute our local environment.

PUBLIC TOILETS

Councils have significantly reduced the number of public toilets available. Use of a toilet is a basic right, and something which everyone needs when out and about. Lack of public toilets directly contributes to unsanitary and unpleasant conditions by forcing antisocial behaviour. We will build more public facilities and ensure that they are open all hours and accessible to those with disabilities. We will compile, publish and update a list of local businesses that welcome members of the public to use their toilet facilities.

OUR VALUES

SOLIDARITY

The fruits of society belong to everyone, and everyone should have a say in how they are governed. Only by joining together in freedom and peace can we pursue the happiness that is our birthright.

Therefore we stand in solidarity with all workers in their struggle for rights, for fair pay and conditions, and ultimately for the ownership of their work. We fully support the right of free people to organise — including but not limited to forming Trade Unions, Community Unions, and Tenants’ Unions — and commit to supporting unions in their work.

We further recognise that our struggle for freedom and peace is shared, and that an injustice against any is an injustice to all. Therefore we stand in solidarity with all oppressed peoples and commit to fighting for the full participation of all peoples as equals in society.

COMMUNITY

The Black Country belongs to everyone who chooses to make their home here. We do not and will not tolerate bigotry of any kind. Everyone who lives in the Black Country belongs to our community and deserves dignity, respect, and fair treatment: either all of us matter or none of us matter.

We recognise that the work of society exists to benefit our shared community. We do not believe the value of life can be measured through work, and therefore we will never put profits before human lives.

ACCOUNTABILITY

We are accountable to our members and to the communities we serve: this is the foundation on which trust in our party is built. Therefore we commit to democratic accountability, both within our party and to the public, and invite the participation of all people in forming our policy and choosing our representatives.

In contesting elections we will take no votes for granted; in elected office we will hold ourselves accountable to the public we serve.

STEWARDSHIP

We are responsible to future generations for the world we leave to them. It is our duty to create a world in which our children and their descendants can thrive.

Therefore, we commit to responsible stewardship of our environment and to cultivating a culture that fosters lives worth living. In elected office we will govern for the long term and leave our communities stronger and more resilient than we found them.

CONSTITUTION

Constitution for The Black Country Party

Name

The name of the group is The Black Country Party. Called ‘the Party’ in these rules.

Aims of the Party

• To discuss, debate and propose alternatives to austerity measures enacted on the Black Country region by local, regional and national governments. 

• To campaign for community interests, uphold inclusive democracy and oppose hatred and bigotry in all forms. 

• To be a democratic membership organisation where members share the values of solidarity, decency, mutual help and active participation.

• To provide and opportunity for individuals, organisations and community groups to cooperate and collaborate for the mutual good of our local communities. 

• To inform the policy positions of elected Black Country Party politicians and to influence local politicians and electoral candidates to commit to our policies. 

• We are committed to maintaining public services in public ownership, opposing cuts that cause harm to our local communities, demanding fair funding for the Black Country and measures that aim to support local jobs through flexible tender agreements. 

• We are committed to local government transparency and accountability, the promotion of fair contracting and ethical investments, video recordings of all council meeting and meaningful community consultation in planning decisions. 

• We are committed to celebrating and promoting Black Country culture, supporting local artists and ensuring access to public spaces. 

• We are committed to securing funding for community venues and libraries as well as protecting pubs and music venues from private developers and noise complaints. 

• We will promote community ownership of assets to give communities more control over the spaces in their local area which can help to build the financial self-sufficiency and sustainability of community businesses.

• We are committed to developing our commitments through discussion and debate with our members to deliver bottom up, community led democracy. 

Powers

To further these aims, the Party may exercise the following powers 

• To raise funds and receive contributions, donations, membership subscriptions and otherwise, provided that the Party shall not undertake any permanent trading activity;

• To bring together representatives of voluntary and statutory organisations, government departments and individuals;

• To produce leaflets/posters to publicise the Party activities;

• To hold meetings;

• To pay the necessary expenses involved in running the Party;

• To employ staff, when necessary, to carry out work;

• To undertake any other lawful activity to further the Party’s aims.

Note: any part of this document can be deleted, amended or added to, or additional parts added to it at the next AGM.  Details of the proposed changes will be circulated with the notice of the AGM.

Membership

Membership of the Party shall be open to all persons in sympathy with the group’s aims and willing to abide by the group’s constitution.

Each member will have one vote and will be eligible to stand for election onto the committee.

The Party will be non-sectarian and will be committed to non-discriminatory practices and equal opportunities.

The Party will be a Community Organisation represented in local, regional and national elections by the electoral entity also known as The Black Country Party. 

Management committee

The Party shall elect a committee of between  5 –10 members plus a chair, secretary and treasurer. The Committee will direct the policy and management of the Party.  They shall be elected to serve for one year after which time they may stand for re-election.

The Committee will have reserved places for the Leader, Treasurer, Nominating Officer and Campaigns Officer of the Black Country Party all of whom will be elected for a 4 year period. 

The chair will have a casting vote in the event of a tie.

The committee will have the power to co-opt members if it wishes to use this power.

The committee will meet a minimum of four times a year.  The quorum level will be set at 8.

From amongst the committee, a chairperson, a secretary and a treasurer will be selected.  Other members may be appointed to undertake particular responsibilities within the Party, eg fundraising.

Meetings

General meetings will be held as often as necessary and at least four times a year.

An annual general meeting (AGM) of the Party shall be held every year in the month of tbc.  All members shall be notified not less than fourteen days before the meeting.  An agenda will be circulated.  Business of the AGM will include electing the committee; reporting on the activities during the year, amendments to the constitution and approval of the Party’s accounts.

An extraordinary general meeting (EGM) can be held at the chair’s discretion or by a written request to the chair of not less than 10% of Members.  The meeting shall be called within twenty-one days of such a request and appropriate measures taken to inform all members.  An extraordinary general meeting should only consider the business specified in the request.

Finances

• Any money raised shall be used to further the aims of the Party, included finances for local and national elections and for no other purpose;

• The Campaigns Officer will act as Treasurer for the purposes of local and national election campaigns, in accordance with rules set out by the Electoral Commission, working with the Treasurer of the group where different individuals hold these positions.

• A bank account will be opened in the name of the Party;

• The account will require two signatures on any cheque/online authorisation or other bank document (except paying in slips).  There will be four signatories available to the treasurer for signing cheques.

• The Party shall decide the signatories to any account set up in the name of the Party. 

• A simple written note of the Party's financial position, will be produced and available at committee meetings;

• A statement of accounts verified by a competent person who is independent of the Party shall be tabled at the AGM;

• No member shall derive any financial benefit from the Party, except for payment of ‘reasonable expenses’;

• No money will be paid out in the name of the Party without a receipt or invoice being presented.

• Members elected to any democratic office will donate up to 10% of their financial salary/allowance to The Black Country Party.

Amendments to the constitution

If amendment(s) to the constitution are necessary, members will be informed in writing and given the opportunity to consider and vote on the amendments.  The amendment(s) will be made if there is a two-thirds majority vote of members.

Dissolution

If the committee, by a simple majority, deem it advisable to dissolve the Party, it shall call a meeting of all the members of the group, giving not less than 14 days notice.  If such a decision is confirmed by a majority of those present, then all the assets of the Party shall be transferred to another local voluntary group or community group with similar aims.