The leader of the Labour group at the council, Adam Aston, said he was not going to “sugarcoat the result” and it had been “an incredibly bad night”.
It would “vehemently hold to account the decision makers [in Dudley], whoever that is”, he added.
Asked if he sensed he would be in opposition and would think of aligning with the largest party, Aston said although he appreciated there were probably “conversations to be had”, it would be “very unusual to align ourselves with either the Conservatives or Reform”.
“There are parties to our left, but the numbers just don’t work. But we’ve got our annual general meeting of the group tonight where we’ll have those discussions.”
Aston stated the group found itself “in unchartered territory”, as he thought to be the third largest party in Dudley was “unheard of since the creation of the borough”.
The Black Country Party lost all three of their seats.
There are a couple of new younger faces on the council now – Joel Hyde, 19, was elected for the Brockmoor and Pensnett ward, while Samuel Hussey, 21, will represent Wordsley North.