Labour council leader's defeat confirmed

The Labour leader of Birmingham City Council John Cotton has officially lost his seat in the local elections.

Cotton, who has been in his role for three years, failed to hold onto his seat in Glebe Farm and Tile Cross in results announced on Monday, following recounts.

The city's last ward was won by Reform UK's Jessica Ankrett and Shehryay Kayani of the Workers Party, giving that party its first Birmingham councillor.

The authority, the largest unitary council in the UK, has shifted from being Labour run to no overall control. Reform is the largest single group, now with 23 of the 101 seats.

Reform on Monday announced that Sutton Reddicap councillor Jex Parkin, 24, had been elected as its group leader on the council, with Charles Latchford as his deputy.

The Green Party took 19 seats, with Labour on 17 and the Conservatives with 16.

The Liberal Democrats have 12 seats, alongside 13 independents.

Glebe Farm and Tile Cross was the last of 69 wards left to be called after teams ran out of time to finish counting votes on Friday evening, with counting restarting from 13:00 BST on Monday.

Talks will now begin between parties on forming a viable administration. No group has even a quarter of the seats on the authority, let alone getting above the half (effectively 52 seats) required for a majority.

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