How Birmingham City Council is run after May's elections

Five months after one of the most dramatic local elections in Birmingham's history, the city is being run by a minority administration led by the Liberal Democrats. Here is how the council now works.

What happened in May

At the election on 7 May 2026, no party came close to a majority of the 101 seats. Reform UK won the most, with 23. The Greens won 19, Labour 17, the Conservatives 16, the Liberal Democrats 12, independents 13 and the Workers Party one.

The Greens won the largest share of the vote, 20.8 per cent, narrowly ahead of Labour on 20.4 per cent and Reform UK on 19.6 per cent. Labour, which had run the council for more than a decade, lost control, and its leader John Cotton lost his seat in Glebe Farm and Tile Cross.

Who is in charge

Reform UK found no other party willing to work with it. Instead, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and a group of seven independent councillors known as Better Birmingham Independents formed a minority administration with 38 seats, short of the 51 needed for a majority.

Roger Harmer, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Acocks Green, became leader of the council and was formally confirmed on 5 June. He is the first Liberal Democrat to lead Birmingham City Council.

What minority government means

Because the administration does not have a majority, it needs support from other councillors to pass budgets and major decisions at full council. That can mean more negotiation, and sometimes defeats on individual votes.

The in-tray

Councillor Harmer has said settling the bin strike, which began in March 2025, is his first priority. The council also remains under Government intervention after its financial crisis, and it is working on its new Local Plan and the next budget.

Who is your councillor?

Birmingham has 69 wards, some with one councillor and some with two. You can find your councillors and how to contact them on the council's website by entering your postcode. The next all-out city council elections are due in 2030.