Parties brace for talks over Birmingham's political split

5 hours ago

Kathryn Stanczyszyn,Political editor, West Midlandsand

Elliot Ball,West Midlands

News image — The political leadership of Birmingham City Council is looking uncertain

BBC A browny/grey building with five columns at the front which are lit up. there are numerous windows on either side of the columns which go to three floors up. The building is ornate with stone arches above the columns. The sky is grey. — The political leadership of Birmingham City Council is looking uncertain

The diverse party political split in Birmingham is not unworkable, a party leader has said.

Birmingham City Council, the largest unitary council in the UK, has shifted from being Labour run to no overall control with five parties holding seats, as well as 13 independents. Two more seats will be counted on Monday.

Reform UK are the largest single group, with 22 of the 101 seats, with the Greens holding 19. Labour has been left with 17 seats and the Liberal Democrats took 12.

Lib Dem leader Roger Harmer said the sitation was not unworkable while Reform UK councillor Jex Parkin said his group would try to form an adminstration. The Greens said conversations would start on Monday. But some parties have already ruled out working with others.

A young man smiles into the camera. He has brown cropped hair and a beard and moustache. He is wearing a grey suit jacket, white shirt and brown tie. A lanyard is around his necl. He is in an arena with lots of empty seats. — Newly elected Kingstanding councillor for Reform UK Jex Parkin said his party, the largest on the council, will try and form an administration

Parkin said he was confident his party could take the remaining two Glebe Farm and Tile Cross seats. One of those seats had been held by Labour leader John Cotton.

The Kingstanding councillor said Reform UK would try and form an administration, but added it was too early to speculate exactly how.

"We need to get our group set up and choose our leadership and go from there before we speculate on any kind of coalition," he said.

The situation at the city council was complicated because there was "a lot of different parties on a similar number of seats," he added.

An elderly man with short white hair and thin framed glasses. He is wearing a blue fleece and is stood on a residential street. — Roger Harmer said he believes the political split in Birmingham is "not unworkable" despite no party having enough seats for overall control

Speaking on Politics Midlands, Harmer ruled out working with Reform, but said other parties had "shared desires".

"It's not unworkable, it's our duty as elected councillors to work with what the citizens of Birmingham have given us, and that's what we'll do.

"While the party political split is extremely diverse, I think when you look across the manifestos of many of the parties there's a lot of shared desires in terms of improving Birmingham.

"I think that gives us a basis to work from and we will be reaching out to the other parties on that basis of common policies."

A woman with shoulder-length brown hair is pictured smiling while wearing thin framed black glasses. She is also wearing a dark green blouse with white stars dotted across it. — Councillor Jane Baston said her party was yet to start discussions with other parties

Green councillor Jane Baston, representing the Selly Oak ward, said her party was "ready to hit the ground running" but coalition conversations were yet to start.

"We are currently celebrating our wins. We are open to conversations with those who align to our values but those haven't started yet," she said.

"We're looking to hit the ground running tomorrow and start having those [conversations]."

Asked if a Greens, Labour, Lib Dem and an Independent coalition would be attractive, she said: "We'll see what happens and see what's on the table. We will have those conversations with those who are aligned to us."

The Conservatives have indicated they may not work with Reform UK. Meriden and Solihull East MP Saqib Bhatti said he did not want to tie Birmingham group leader Robert Alden's hands but in Solihull they would not be doing a deal.

"Not least because I don't think their candidate vetting was up to scratch," he said.

"I just can't see that we would... I won't be advocating a deal with Reform in Solihull but Bobby [Alden]will have to make a decision."

Politics Midlands can be watched again on the BBC iPlayer

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