The 2026 Birmingham City Council election took place on 7 May 2026, with all 101 council seats up for election across 37 single-member and 32 two-member wards. The election was held alongside other local elections across Great Britain.
Prior to the election, the council was under Labour majority control. At the previous council election in 2022, Labour had maintained its control of the council, winning 65 seats. The Conservative Party formed the main opposition with twenty-two seats, with the Liberal Democrats on twelve and the Green Party winning two.
On 11 May 2026, the final results of this election were announced as Reform UK 23, Greens 19, Labour 17, Conservatives 16, Lib Dems 12, Workers Party 1, Independents 13. The council therefore went under no overall control. The incumbent Labour leader of the council, John Cotton, lost his seat.
Reform were the largest party after the election, but were unable to find any coalition partners to work with them. Instead, a coalition of the Liberal Democrats, Green Party and the Better Birmingham Independent Group formed a minority administration, led by the Liberal Democrats' group leader Roger Harmer. He was formally confirmed as the new leader of the council at a meeting on 5 June 2026.
Background The Local Government Act 1972 created a two-tier system of metropolitan counties and boroughs covering Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, the West Midlands, and West Yorkshire starting in 1974. Birmingham is a district of the West Midlands metropolitan county. The Local Government Act 1985 abolished the metropolitan county councils, with the metropolitan boroughs individually taking on most of the county-level powers. The West Midlands Combined Authority was created in 2016 and began electing the mayor of the West Midlands from 2017, which was given strategic powers covering a region coterminous with the West Midlands metropolitan county.
Since its formation Birmingham City Council has variously been under Labour control, Conservative control and no overall control. Councillors have predominantly been elected from the Labour Party, Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats. The council has had an overall Labour majority since the 2012 council election, when they regained control from the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition that had run the city since 2004.
John Cotton had led the Labour group on Birmingham City Council since May 2023, with Robert Alden leading the Conservative group, Roger Harmer leading the Liberal Democrats, Julien Pritchard leading the Greens, Martin Brooks leading the Harborne and Quinton Independents, and Jane Jones leading the Birmingham Independents.
Dissatisfied with the Labour Party's position in the Gaza War, many Muslim candidates stood as independents, campaigning on pro-Gaza sentiments. Significant controversy erupted over the candidature of Shahid Butt, a British Muslim who had been convicted in a plot to bomb the British consulate, an Anglican Church and a Swiss-owned hotel in Yemen in 1999 at the Sparkhill council seat of Birmingham. Butt also courted controversy by calling Muslims to boycott Jews during his campaign.
Council composition Prior to the election
Birmingham City council has been controlled by the Labour Party since 2012. The Conservative Party last held sole control of the council in 1984. It was under no overall control from 2003 until 2012, run by a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition from 2003 to 2004 and by a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition from 2004 to 2012.
After 2022 election Before 2026 election Party Seats Party Seats 65 51 22 21 12 13 2 2 0 12 Vacant N/A Vacant 2 Changes 2022–2026: August 2022: Mohammed Azim (Labour) dies – by-election held October 2022 October 2022: Saima Ahmed (Labour) wins by-election March 2024: Brigid Jones (Labour) resigns – by-election held May 2024 April 2024: Rick Payne (Conservative) resigns – by-election held May 2024 May 2024: Jamie Scott (Labour) and Clifton Welch (Conservative) win by-elections Alex Aitken (Labour) and Kirsten Kurt-Elli (Labour) resign – by-elections held July 2024 Ayoub Khan (Liberal Democrats) leaves party to sit as an independent July 2024: Carmel Corrigan (Labour) and Esther Rai (Labour) win by-elections September 2024: Shabina Bano (Labour) joins Liberal Democrats December 2024: Martin Brooks (Labour) leaves party to sit as an independent April 2025: Sam Forsyth (Labour) leaves party to sit as an independent July 2025: Kerry Jenkins (Labour) dies – by-election held October 2025 August 2025: Barbara Dring (Labour) and Jane Jones (Labour) leave party to sit as independents October 2025: Philip Mills (Liberal Democrats) gains by-election from Labour Amar Khan (Labour), Mohammed Idrees (Labour), Chaman Lal (Labour), and Rinkal Shergill (Labour) leave party to sit as independents December 2025: Jack Deakin (Labour) resigns – seat left vacant until 2026 election January 2026: Waseem Zaffar (Labour) dies – seat left vacant until 2026 election April 2026: Hendrina Quinnen (Labour) joins the independent group
After the election Although the Green Party of England and Wales won the highest share of the vote at 20.8%, Reform UK won more seats because of the UK's first-past-the-post electoral system.
Following the election, the leader of the Reform UK group of 23 new councillors stated that "Although we are the largest party, other groups have made it clear that they refuse to work with us, meaning there is no viable route for Reform to take control of the council. Given that Birmingham has also clearly elected a left-wing majority, we have accepted that we will unfortunately be unable to form an administration." The Labour Party named Nicky Brennan as its leader on the council. Brennan has since ruled out her party entering into any coalition agreement with other parties in the council.
Following the elections, cross-party talks formed to form a new administration. Despite emerging as the largest single group with 23 seats, Reform UK conceded that they had "no viable route" to take control of the council, with every party interested in a coalition explicitly ruling out a coalition with them, and the Labour and Conservative parties ruling out any coalitions. Meanwhile, the Labour Party, which saw its 14-year control of the council end after dropping to 17 seats, also ruled out entering any power-sharing arrangements, choosing instead to sit on the opposition benches.
By 11 May 2026, the possibility of a coalition emerged as the Green Party (19 seats) and the Liberal Democrats (12 seats) initiated formal talks to build a governing block. On 19 May, this alliance was strengthened by a newly-formed independent group, the "Better Birmingham Independents", a seven-seat bloc of moderate independent Muslim councillors led by Harris Khaliq, that had split away from the hard-line faction of the party loyal to Ahmed Yakoob and agreed to a coalition. This moderate group agreed to drop issues related to Gaza war and contentious social agendas from their manifesto. To secure a power-sharing deal with the progressive Greens and Liberal Democrats, they explicitly committed to upholding the council's statutory equality policies, including existing LGBTQ+ protections and not interfering with or challenging the national statutory curriculum surrounding LGBTQ taught in Birmingham schools, which has been an issue in the city and other areas in England with significant Muslim communities since 2019. This group is still seven seats short of a majority.
The election produced a significant shift in the gender balance on the council with the number of female councillors falling from 42 to 28 of the 101 council seats. Liberal Democrat councillor, Izzy Knowles, cited a rise in abuse of elected representatives, particularly towards women, as a factor deterring women from running for office.
Summary
Election result
Before 2026 election After 2026 election2026 elections, birmingham.gov.uk, 9 May 2026, accessed 9 May 2026 Party Seats Party Seats 0 23 2 19 51 17 21 16 13 12 0 1 12 13 Vacant 2 Vacant 0
Ward results
Calculation of vote percentages The vote percentage for each candidate is calculated by dividing their number of votes by the total number of valid ballots.
1-seat wards The calculation is straightforward for 1-seat wards since the total number of valid ballots is equal to the total number of votes cast.
2-seat wards In the case of 2-seat wards, the calculation is more complex because the number of valid ballots is not equal to the number of votes cast. Nor is it equal to half the number of votes cast because some valid ballots may have only one vote. Instead, we must determine the number of valid ballots by multiplying the percentage turnout by the eligible electorate of the ward and then subtracting the number of rejected ballots.
Unfortunately, Birmingham City Council has not published the numbers of rejected ballots for this election, so we cannot account for these. This means that the vote percentages for 2-seat wards are slightly understated.
Wards beginning A–G
Acocks Green
Allens Cross
Alum Rock
Aston
Balsall Heath West
Bartley Green
Billesley
Birchfield
Bordesley and Highgate
Bordesley Green
Bournbrook and Selly Park
Bournville & Cotteridge
Brandwood and Kings Heath
Bromford and Hodge Hill
Castle Vale
Druids Heath and Monyhull
Edgbaston
Erdington
Frankley Great Park
Garretts Green
Glebe Farm & Tile Cross
Gravelly Hill
Wards beginning H–R Hall Green North
Hall Green South
Handsworth
Handsworth Wood
Harborne
Heartlands
Highter’s Heath
Holyhead
King’s Norton North
King’s Norton South
Kingstanding
Ladywood
Longbridge and West Heath
Lozells
Moseley
Nechells
Newtown
North Edgbaston
Northfield
Oscott
Perry Barr
Perry Common
Pype Hayes
Quinton
Rubery and Rednal
Wards beginning S–Y Shard End
Sheldon
Small Heath
Soho and Jewellery Quarter
South Yardley
Sparkbrook and Balsall Heath East
Sparkhill
Stirchley
Stockland Green
Sutton Four Oaks
Sutton Mere Green
Sutton Reddicap
Sutton Roughley
Sutton Trinity
Sutton Vesey
Sutton Walmley and Minworth
Sutton Wylde Green
Tyseley & Hay Mills
Ward End
Weoley and Selly Oak
Yardley East
Yardley West and Stechford
Opinion polls and projections
Projection
Date(s)conductedProviderAreaLabConLDGrnRefOthers5 May 20222026 local elections–171612192314 March-April 2026 ITV News Central/More in CommonBirmingham322510726225 May 20222022 local elections–652212200
Ongoing polls suggested a large increase in the election of independent candidates, particularly in areas with a high density of ethnic minority voters. Labour was expected to lose their majority, resulting in a No Overall Control council, which did occur.
Changes between 2026 and 2030 In June 2026, Majid Mahmood and Diane Donaldson (both Bromford and Hodge Hill) resigned from the Labour group. In July 2026, Rebecca Waters (Rubery and Rednal) was suspended from the Reform UK group after voting against the party on the council leadership. In August 2026, Siobhan Harper-Nunes (Ladywood) was suspended from the Green Party group over charges she assaulted three police officers, a member of police staff and a member of the public. In September 2026, Bushra Bi (Sparkhill) left the Labour Party and joined the Green Party.
Notes
References