Four years on, those parties hold just 33 seats between them. The dual hegemony is over.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Birmingham Liberal Democrats make first move in council coalition bid to run city<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The outcome of the May 7 elections here reflected the diversity that makes Birmingham the incredible place it is, where differing views, values, ethnicities and personalities live cheek-by-jowl. No single view or vision has held sway.<\/p>\n That could trigger chaos or, looking at it positively, could make for forced harmony.<\/p>\n For those still catching up, the biggest party in Birmingham now is Reform UK with 22 seats. The party had never held a seat here before.<\/p>\n Greens are the second biggest party, with 19 seats, a massive surge after previously holding two.<\/p>\n There was a massive anti-Labour vote, but the party managed to retain 17 seats, just ahead of the Conservatives, with 16 seats.<\/p>\n Liberal Democrats<\/a> made no forward movement, with 12 seats, the same as it had at the start.<\/p>\n Reform UK candidates Chris Steele and Rajbir Singh celebrate after being elected for Bartley Green during the count for the Birmingham Council 2026 local elections, at Utilita Arena Birmingham(Image: Jacob King\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n In all some 13 people were elected as Independents.<\/p>\n Three Labour-defecting councillors defeated official Labour rivals in Harborne<\/a>, Stockland Green and Quinton, while other Independents were elected under the candidate alliance clustered around Akhmed Yakoob and Shakeel Afsar, and also separately from them.<\/p>\n Now the discussions begin as the rainbow of parties elected with 12 or more seats work out who they can stomach forming an alliance with in order to form a majority or minority coalition leadership.<\/p>\n Here are some of the big takeways about how what unfolded, and what happens now.<\/p>\n If you want to read back how we covered the election live, you can check that out here.<\/a><\/p>\n 1. Labour was critically wounded and MPs are next<\/strong><\/p>\n Any seats retained by the Labour group in Birmingham were no thanks to Keir Starmer or the city’s prominent Labour MPs and mayor, who have been missing in action for months as cheerleaders for their council colleagues, with a couple of notable exceptions.<\/p>\n A retiring Labour member, Phil Davis, voiced the concerns of many when he said: “Many in the Labour Group feel the national leadership abandoned local Labour councillors and, worse, actually damaged our electoral prospects.”<\/p>\n There has been a failure to communicate any positive achievements, with the bin strike and the council’s financial crisis casting a dark shadow over any upbeat pronouncements.<\/p>\n They will need to do a lot of rebuilding if the anti-Labour sentiment of this election does not continue in to the West Midlands mayoral election in 2028 and the General Election, due in 2029 but could come sooner.<\/p>\n There is not a single Labour councillor left in Laurence Turner’s Northfield constituency, now a Reform stronghold, or in Yardley<\/a> constituency, held narrowly by Jess Phillips at the last general election. Her seat is now home to seven Liberal Democrats, two Reform and one Green councillor.<\/p>\n Only one Labour councillor remains among the representatives in Selly Oak, the seat of Al Carns.<\/p>\n A glum former city council leader John Cotton(Image: Jacob King\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s constituency in Ladywood now has just three Labour councillors – and two of them, Marcus Bernasconi and Sarina Younas in North Edgbaston<\/a>, currently or previously worked in her office. The other eight are Independents or Greens.<\/p>\n The party ended up with 17 seats and third spot. It is still in the conversation as alliances are formed.<\/p>\n 2. Reform delivered a tremor, not an earthquake<\/strong><\/p>\n Reform came into the election buoyed by polling that suggested they would emerge as the biggest party. But there were early signs the party might not have done as well as it had hoped.<\/p>\n Richard Tice, the party’s deputy leader, was in the city, likely to see if the results emerging in other parts of the region could be duplicated in Birmingham<\/a>. It would have been quite a scalp.<\/p>\n But in the end hopes of a clear mandate were dashed. The final number of seats achieved was 22. That makes them the biggest party, but just three ahead of the Green Party.<\/p>\n Reform deputy leader Richard Tice at the count(Image: Jacob King\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n Reform dominated in predominantly white working class communities, with the south west and north west of the city providing rich pickings.<\/p>\n The ‘flag belt’ around Northfield<\/a>, taking in Weoley and Selly Oak<\/a>, Longbridge and West Heath, Rubery and Rednal, Allens Cross, Frankley Great Park and Kings Norton, have become a turquoise blue cluster that will likely alarm Northfield’s Labour MP Laurence Turner, while seven of the 12 seats in his colleague Paulette Hamilton’s Erdington<\/a> constituency are also now under Reform councillors.<\/p>\n The party was wholly rejected by the global majority inner-city wards.<\/p>\n In a statement the party said on Sunday: “We\u2019re proud to have ended up as the largest party on Birmingham City Council<\/a>. A majority was our ambition, but that was always going to be a tough ask for any party in such a politically complex city.<\/p>\n “Labour have been rejected, and the Tories reduced to fourth place on just 16 seats, confirming the ‘uniparty’ is now largely irrelevant.” (Uniparty is a derogatory term suggesting two opposing parties operate as one entity to retain the status quo).<\/p>\n “Our focus now is establishing our group on the council and formalising our leadership, so we can most effectively deliver for residents. With such a split up council, it\u2019s a very complex situation and could pan out any number of ways.<\/p>\n “We\u2019ll be working to make sure we do the best job for Birmingham, whatever happens.<\/p>\n 3. The Greens were cockahoop but might have done even better<\/strong><\/p>\n Green candidates, their supporters and volunteers were the most visible ‘whoopers’ as results were announced from a small stage inside the Utilita Arena main hall. Broad smiles and air punches were the order of the day as they took an early flurry of seats.<\/p>\n In the end they took 19 seats, and only lost out on a few more by the smallest of margins. The party lost a second seat in Bournville and Cotteridge by three.<\/p>\n But amid the joy there was a feeling of an opportunity lost. The party had barely directed any funding or resources to the city, and only belatedly found candidates to fill slots in seats to ensure it had a full slate of 101 candidates.<\/p>\n Greens celebrate another win at the Birmingham count, May 2026(Image: Jacob King\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n Among those elected were a tranche of young candidates including university graduate Ali Kazi in Bordesley and Highgate alongside well-known personalities and lifelong activists including the likes of anti-racism campaigner Siobhan Harper-Nunes in Ladywood, Palestinian activist Kammel Hawwash in Stirchley<\/a>, and Corinne Fowler and Jane Baston in Bournbrook and Selly Park.<\/p>\n 4. Turnout was up and that’s great for democracy<\/strong><\/p>\n Birmingham’s residents have spoken up in huge numbers. We are still awaiting the final numbers but in some wards we are told the turnout was nudging 50 per cent, which is much improved on the 2022 figures.<\/p>\n That would defy fears of disinterest, and is a great sign local democracy can still engage and inspire action. The vast majority voted in person too. But lest we forget, it’s still likely that half of eligible voters didn’t bother to make their mark.<\/p>\n 5. The death of the Tories and the Lib Dems was ‘exaggerated’<\/strong><\/p>\n Both parties emerged with seats and strongholds – the Tories<\/a> in Sutton Coldfield<\/a>, where they took two Labour seats to ensure a clean sweep of every seat across Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell’s constituency. The Liberal Democrats performed well in Yardley.<\/p>\n But both parties must now engage in difficult diplomacy to try to ensure their minority groups have a pivotal say in what happens next.<\/p>\n The Tories could potentially join with Reform to nudge their way towards a right-wing minority coalition – together that would give them 38 seats, still 13 short of a majority.<\/p>\n But many in the party, including respected former mayor Andy Street, are counselling against any hook-up with Reform, while Reform are maintaining they won’t go into coalition with anyone.<\/p>\n![\"Reform](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778428886_368_0_Local-elections-2026.jpg\")
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