My immediate impression of Walsall is of a very welcoming and immensely proud council and community.

As you would expect, I spent my first day at Walsall finding my way around both the beautiful Edwardian council house and refurbished 1970s Civic Centre, meeting many colleagues along the way and finishing the day off with a meeting of full council. At this meeting, I lost count of the number of times councillors from all parties spoke of their pride in the borough and, for many, their long association with serving Walsall's diverse communities.