Birmingham

Focus group sceptical that replacing Keir Starmer would improve party’s fortunes, with some drawn to Reform or the GreensUK politics – liveAs Keir Starmer faces the prospect of a leadership challenge, former Labour voters in a Birmingham constituency were last week feeling nervous about what could come next.A month ago, the group from Birmingham Yardley had very little good to say about the prime minister, comparing him to a rat or a donkey. They said they felt he had let them down. Continue reading...

Reform, Greens and pro-Gaza independents make significant gains, although no party has yet won majorityElections mapped: how Labour lost ground in different directionsLatest news updates and analysis from election nightThe Labour party’s 14-year leadership in Birmingham has come to an end after Reform, Greens and pro-Gaza independents made significant gains in the UK’s second-largest city.No party has yet won an overall majority at Birmingham city council, one of Europe’s largest local authorities, with the results reflecting wider political fragmentation across England. Continue reading...

Long-running dispute could be resolved as improved offer is made to workers, who first began strike in January 2025The end of the year-long Birmingham bin strike is now “within sight”, the city council leader has said after committing to an improved offer for refuse workers.On Monday, John Cotton, the Labour leader of Birmingham city council, said a new, improved offer could be made to workers that he hoped would “end the strike once and for all”. Continue reading...

Some fear a fragmented field of hopefuls from Labour, the Conservatives, Greens, Reform and Independents could leave city ungovernablePaul Tilsley was 23 when he was first elected for the Liberal party in Birmingham’s 1968 council elections. At the time, the UK had an unpopular Labour government facing an economic crisis, tensions around immigration and US pressure to back military action abroad.Such a backdrop may seem familiar, but this May, the all-out local elections in Birmingham could not be more different. Tilsley, now a Lib Dem, faces a fragmented field with candidates from Labour, the Conservatives, Greens, Reform and Independents all competing for his seat and no party expected to win an overall majority at the council. Continue reading...

Cheryl Bartley is charged with gross negligence manslaughter after 2023 death of Robert Smith, 61A pastor has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter after the drowning of a 61-year-old man at a baptism ceremony in Birmingham in 2023, the Crown Prosecution Service said.Robert Smith, from Brixton in south London, died at an address in Erdington on 8 October 2023. Malcolm McHaffie, the head of the special crime division, said: “We have decided to prosecute Cheryl Bartley, 48, with one count of gross negligence manslaughter in relation to her role as a pastor during a baptism. Continue reading...

Unite accuses authority of trying to ‘break’ industrial action as waste dispute enters second yearUnite has accused Birmingham city council of trying to “break” the bin strikes after analysis showed the council had doubled spending on agency staff since the start of the year-long industrial action.Birmingham’s bin workers have taken part in an all-out strike since March last year over proposed pay cuts and role changes. The dispute has left residents without a fully functioning waste collection service and has led to towering waste and overflowing bins on the streets. Continue reading...