Labour loses control of Birmingham City Council

Labour has lost control of Birmingham City Council in a disastrous 24 hours for the party, leaving the local authority with no party in overall control.

Reform UK has won 22 seats so far, the largest number of any party, but was a long way off the 51 needed for a majority.

The Green Party currently has the second highest number of councillors with 19 seats.

One ward was left to be called, that of council leader John Cotton, who conceded on Friday he was likely to lose his seat in Glebe Farm and Tile Cross.

Cotton, who has been at the helm during the bin strike and effective bankruptcy of the council, told the BBC on Friday it been an incredible privilege to have served as a councillor for the best part of 25 years.

Labour had been in control of the local authority for 14 years, having won 65 seats in the last local election in 2022.

However, Thursday's election saw votes splinter across all parties to the detriment of Labour.

With one ward left to declare, the Conservatives have 16 seats, having retained their stronghold in Sutton Coldfield but losing seats to Reform in the south.

Labour is left with 17 seats, the Greens 19, while 13 independent candidates have been elected and the Liberal Democrats took 12 seats.

Elizabeth Glinka, the BBC's political editor for the West Midlands, described the political map of Birmingham as resembling a rainbow.

The BBC heard one senior councillor remark: "How you come up with a sensible way of leading the council from that, I don't know."

Meanwhile in Solihull, the Conservatives lost control of the council for the first time since 2010.

They remain the biggest party with 24 seats, but Reform made significant gains to take 17 in this all out election.

Conservative leader Karen Grinsell said people in the borough had stayed with "a party they can trust".

Asked if they would now work with others to form a majority, she said "not necessarily" and that there was a good working atmosphere of collaboration on the local authority.

It was a disappointing night for the Greens who lost four seats, retaining four.

The Lib Dems lost two seats, keeping six, while Labour now has no presence at all.

Sue Willets is the new Reform councillor for Perry Common in Birmingham.

"We are ordinary people from different walks of life with life experience. With that energy and different approach, we can fix some of those problems," she said.

"We are dedicated people coming from the heart. It's not about climbing the ladder or making a name for ourselves. We want to make a big difference."

Rachel Conaghan and Darren Colling were elected as Reform councillors for the Sheldon ward.

Colling, who lost his wife and son recently, has a building company but is about to retire so he can focus on politics.

"I thought I'd give myself something to do. I've always been interested in politics and thought let's give it a go and see if we can improve our area," he said.

Clinical lead for the NHS and registered mental health nurse Conaghan said she was feeling "excited and nervous".

"I can't wait to see where all this money is going and finally get it back on our streets," she said.

Many Labour candidates in Birmingham cited the bin strike as the reason people were telling them they would not be voting for the party while canvassing.

Speaking to the BBC on Friday, an emotional Cotton said he would have liked to have solved the year-long dispute sooner, but there were "complicated issues" including around equal pay for men and women.

"I'm sorry we weren't able to find a way to do that earlier," he said.

However, Majid Mahmood, the council's cabinet member for environment and transport, managed to hold on to his seat in Bromford & Hodge Hill.

As the council's cabinet member responsible for waste services, he has faced a turbulent 16 months.

Cotton added the day was "not a time for personal sadness", saying: "This has to be about jobs and growth and the future of our communities and whoever comes next, I hope they focus on that."

Asked about Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and if he could keep his job, Cotton said: "I think the Labour party's challenges are wider than one particular office holder or individual.

"It's clear we haven't communicated our message and our story clearly enough to the voters."

The Green Party performed well across the city, receiving the second highest number of seats on the council.

Rob Grant, who held Kings Norton South, told the BBC: "It's very, very exciting for us, five years ago we would never have thought about these gains.

"Many politicians are not in the area they represent but us Greens are always very present and visible."

Ali Kazi was elected as the new Green councillor for Bordesley and Highgate.

The 31-year-old said: "I am excited and happy - I joined to make a difference, I am Birmingham born, Birmingham educated, I wanted to do something to try and help the community.

"I'm sick of what Labour were doing, the bin strikes, the potholes and lack of recycling."

When asked about his first order of business, he said: "Fix the roads, I think Birmingham needs repairs."

The leader of the Liberal Democrat group in Birmingham Roger Harmer said his party would have liked to have done better, "but nationally we've seen a big surge for Reform, and in urban areas the Greens have done well".

He confirmed the group would not work with Reform UK councillors in any coalition at the authority.

There were 13 independents elected for the council in Birmingham.

Given some projections earlier in the campaign, it suggests the Independent Alliance backed by controversial figure and self-proclaimed TikTok lawyer Akhmed Yakoob did not cut through in the way they might have hoped.

One of the newly-elected independents is 19-year-old Mansuur Ahmed in Nechells, who featured on Yakoob's social media profiles in the past week.

He said: "It's a great responsibility, one that I am willing to take on and tackle and prove and inspire all the young people like me to actually get into politics and that's what I've seen in the ballots, a lot of young people joining into politics, so I'm happy that I've achieved that already."

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