DUDLEY Council's cabinet is set for a major reshuffle in the wake of a bid to oust leader David Sparks.

Cllr Shaukat Ali stood for election as head of council's ruling Labour group at their annual meeting last week.

However the authority's Labour councillors stood by cllr Sparks, handing out a defeat to cllr Ali which was described by a senior group member as "decisive".

They also voted cllr Ali out of his job as deputy leader, which was handed to cllr Pete Lowe.

Cllr Lowe, who has announced he intends to run for nomination to stand as Labour's Stourbridge candidate in the next general election, is expected to retain his current position as cabinet member for finance in the reshuffle.

Cllr Sparks was quick to reject the suggestion his new second-in-commmand may be taking on too much.

Cllr Sparks said: "Pete Lowe has sufficient talent to be a fantastic deputy leader and parliamentary candidate and, should he get elected, be a brilliant MP."

Although Labour councillors voted for who will be on the cabinet it is up to the leader to decide which jobs they get.

The new look cabinet will be announced within days and cllr Sparks said there will be significant changes.

As well as the leader and deputy, there are eight council cabinet members: cllrs Dave Branwood, Tim Crumpton, Judy Foster, Gaye Partridge, Stuart Turner, Steve Waltho and Tracy Wood. Meanwhile the council's Conservative group was also electing its chiefs last week.

Cllr Patrick Harley was confirmed as leader with cllr David Vickers elected to be his deputy.

Cllr Harley said “I’m obviously very pleased colleagues have given me the honour of leading the group once again.

"I would like to thank them for their support since taking over and also welcome the appointment of cllr David Vickers. We will be a good team that will utilise all the talents within our group."

The shadow cabinet has also been reshuffled, cllr Glenis Simms has become spokesperson for education, cllr John Jones has been given the transport brief and former Tory deputy cllr Tim Wright replaced cllr David Blood as finance spokesman.