Conservatives have made a final pitch to voters ahead of the Birmingham City Council elections on Thursday, May 7, with leader Robert Alden promising to clean up the city and restore pride. The Local Conservatives are fielding 101 candidates and hope to win 51 seats for a majority, or at least become the largest party to lead any coalition.
The Conservative Plan to Clean Up Birmingham
Robert Alden, who has served as a councillor in Erdington for 20 years and opposition leader for 12, criticised Labour's 14-year control of the council, which he said led to bankruptcy, a 16-month bin strike leaving up to 25,000 tonnes of rubbish uncollected, and less than one mile of road repaired last year. Council Tax has doubled since 2012, he added, while services declined.
The Local Conservatives' six-point plan includes keeping weekly bin collections and scrapping Labour's fortnightly plan, introducing neighbourhood clean-up crews and 3,000 new street bins, ending the bin strike, and abolishing the 'rat tax'. They also pledge to use a £200 million highways reserve to fix potholes, tackle poor housing by converting HMOs into family homes, restrict council housing to residents with a ten-year connection, and protect green spaces by scrapping parking charges at parks like Sutton Park and Lickey Hills. The plan also includes increasing enforcement with ANPR technology to tackle noise and littering, installing CCTV at tower blocks, and balancing the council's books by fixing IT systems and ending equal pay liabilities.
Celebrating Heritage and Community
Alden also promised to celebrate Birmingham's heritage with a new St George's Day festival, the return of the St Patrick's Day Parade, and support for the 500th anniversary of Sutton Coldfield's Royal Charter in 2028. He pledged to increase funding for museums, keep libraries open, and extend opening hours.
Under the last Local Conservative-led administration, Birmingham was voted the cleanest city in Britain, and Alden said his plan would achieve that again. He urged voters: 'On 7 May, don’t just hope for a cleaner city. Vote for one.'
