{"id":953406,"date":"2026-05-11T21:10:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T21:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/953406\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T21:10:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T21:10:31","slug":"last-birmingham-city-council-election-result-confirms-ex-leader-is-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/953406\/","title":{"rendered":"Last Birmingham City Council election result confirms ex-leader is OUT"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Incredible delay as Glebe Farm and Tile Cross ward finally called three days after the counting stopped in all other contests<\/p>\n<p>20:52, 11 May 2026Updated 20:58, 11 May 2026<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The final make-up of the 2026 Birmingham City Council representatives has been confirmed with a split in parties, as Reform lead the way with 23 seats\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2_Election-seat-graphic.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"The final make-up of the 2026 Birmingham City Council representatives has been confirmed with a split in parties, as Reform lead the way with 23 seats\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The final make-up of the 2026 Birmingham City Council representatives has been confirmed with a split in parties, as Reform lead the way with 23 seats(Image: Birmingham City Council )<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Birmingham City Council tonight finally announced the last ward result for the 2026 elections &#8211; rubber-stamping former leader John Cotton&#8217;s defeat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The ex-Labour chief had revealed he had lost in Glebe Farm and Tile Cross as the votes were being counted last Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">But incredibly it took until nearly 8pm on Monday, May 11 for the results to confirm who had won the two council spots amid reports of a series of recounts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">READ MORE: <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/midlands-news\/reform-uk-names-birmingham-group-33928628\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Reform UK names city group head who could be next city council leader at 24<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Finally able to celebrate were Reform UK&#8217;s Jessica Ankrett, who claimed the party&#8217;s 23rd seat with 1,394 votes, and Shehryar Kayani, of the Workers Party. He won by just six votes from the second Reform candidate Satnam Tank &#8211; a wafer-thin victory of 1,163 to 1,157.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Fourth was the second Workers Party candidate, Amir Shafique, with 1,078 votes. Veteran former <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/labour-party\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Labour Party<\/a> councillor, Marje Bridle, who served since 1986, received 1,035 votes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Mr Cotton received 896 votes.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Votes for councillors looking to be elected yto Birmingham City Council were counted at the Utilita Arena but one ward's count was carried over until Monday\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_IMG_9257jpeg.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Votes for councillors looking to be elected yto Birmingham City Council were counted at the Utilita Arena but one ward's count was carried over until Monday\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Votes for councillors looking to be elected yto Birmingham City Council were counted at the Utilita Arena but one ward&#8217;s count was carried over until Monday<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">READ MORE: <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/midlands-news\/reform-uk-names-birmingham-group-33928628\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Reform UK names city group head who could be next city council leader at 24<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The result completes the election picture for 2026, with Reform on 23 seats, followed by the Green Party with 19, Labour 17, the Conservatives 16, Independents 13, <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/liberal-democrats\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Liberal Democrats<\/a> 12 and now one Workers Party councillor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">None of the parties are close to the 51 needed for a majority on the 101-seat council.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">And even if two joined forces, they would not have enough councillors to outvote the others.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The colourful patchwork quilt of councillor colours making up the 2026 Birmingham City Council\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_City-council-election-map.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"The colourful patchwork quilt of councillor colours making up the 2026 Birmingham City Council\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The colourful patchwork quilt of councillor colours making up the 2026 Birmingham City Council(Image: Birmingham City Council )<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Now the negotiations and bargaining will continue apace to see who will be the new council leader and how the city, which has a \u00a34.4 billion budget, will be governed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Dr Jason Lowther, director of the Institute of Local Government Studies at the <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/university-of-birmingham\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">University of Birmingham<\/a> said: \u201cI\u2019m not aware of coalitions involving Reform UK at present in English councils.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cIn most cases they govern with a simple majority and in three cases they run councils as the largest party but without a majority.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">READ MORE<\/strong> : <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/midlands-news\/meet-your-new-birmingham-councillors-33916526\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Meet your new Birmingham councillors as two seats wait to be filled<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cIn Cornwall, although Reform are the largest party, the council is run by the Liberal Democrats with Independent councillors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cThe Green Party is the largest party with minority control in a few councils, and is part of several coalitions, mainly with Lib Dems but sometimes with Labour.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">READ MORE: <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/midlands-news\/six-huge-takeaways-birmingham-city-33920083\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Six huge takeaways from Birmingham City Council election<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Meanwhile, <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/erdington\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Erdington<\/a> MP Paulette Hamilton today joined a growing band of Labour faithful calling for the Prime Minister to step down &#8211; something he said he had no intention of doing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She said voters at last week&#8217;s local elections had <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/midlands-news\/reform-pledge-review-birminghams-clean-33924770\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">expressed dissatisfaction<\/a> with national politics. She said the time had come for an &#8216;orderly transition.&#8217;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Incredible delay as Glebe Farm and Tile Cross ward finally called three days after the counting stopped in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":953407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,527,393,4884,14144,528,11518,10751,386,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-953406","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-conservative-party","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-green-party","14":"tag-labour-party","15":"tag-liberal-democrats","16":"tag-local-elections","17":"tag-reform-uk","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116557999727292301","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=953406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/953407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=953406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=953406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=953406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}