The Birmingham Conservatives have issued a stark warning that the city faces being "taken over" by government commissioners unless a stable administration is established. Following the local elections, Labour lost control of the council as voters rejected the two-party system, leaving no single party with overall control.
Coalition Talks Underway
Talks are expected in the coming days to determine if a coalition can be formed to run the council. The Birmingham Liberal Democrats have already issued a statement, offering to "other political groups and like-minded independents on the council to work together." Their leader, Roger Harmer, said on Sunday: "Our proposal is to set out a vision for the city and a supporting delivery plan. For the past few years, we have been known for financial problems and a failure to collect the bins, but that should not define our city. We need to move Birmingham forward as a place of initiative, enterprise and culture, that attracts people with talent."
Conservative Priorities
In their own statement, the Conservatives outlined their priorities for discussions on a new administration. A party spokesperson said: "With no party even 50 per cent of the way to having a majority, it is clear that Birmingham desperately needs change. From being voted the cleanest city in Britain in 2007 under the previous Conservative and Lib Dem administration, Birmingham is now associated with rats and rubbish in the world's media. Birmingham Local Conservatives have over 180 years of council experience, along with decades of leadership experience, nationally and locally, and have the solutions to fix Birmingham and clean up the city. We stand ready to work with those willing to put the city first."
Council Robert Alden, Tory group leader, added: "Birmingham has spoken and the result is a council with no one near control. But the issues facing Birmingham remain. A council in financial distress, a bin strike that has been running for 17 months, and a range of issues from badly run exempt accommodation to continuing equal pay issues. The onus is now on all elected councillors to use their mandate for their area to find where there is a way to produce a stable administration to finally clean up Birmingham and the city council."
Cleaning Up Birmingham
The Tories' plan to 'clean up' Birmingham includes keeping weekly bin collections, protecting green spaces, tackling poorly regulated housing, and increasing enforcement to make streets safer. They warned that government-appointed commissioners, sent in to oversee the council's recovery, could end up 'taking over' the city if a way forward isn't found. "Birmingham is a great city with a proud history," the Conservatives' statement said. "If councillors do not find a way to produce a stable administration that cleans up the city, not only will we be failing residents we will end up with the city being taken over by commissioners."
Coun Alden said on Friday that the priorities for the Tories were cleaning up Birmingham, weekly bin collections, and 'bringing back' local family housing by converting exempt accommodation. "We'll try and work with people across the political spectrum to try and deliver those priorities," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Coalition with Reform?
Asked if the Conservatives would be open to a coalition with Reform, Coun Alden responded: "You're putting words into my mouth. What I talked about were specific priorities, that's where our interests lie because the Local Conservatives always sat where the people of Birmingham sit. We want to see an even better city, I love Birmingham and we want to make it a city residents deserve, not the city Labour left."
New Political Makeup
Below is the new political makeup of the council – 51 seats were needed for a majority. There are two seats left to be declared in the Glebe Farm & Tile Cross ward, which was represented by Labour council leader John Cotton. He conceded on Friday that he was likely to lose his seat. The results for this last ward are expected on Monday. Here are the full results for the other 99 council seats in Birmingham: Reform UK – 22, Green Party – 19, Labour – 17, Conservative – 16, Independents – 13, Liberal Democrats – 12.
