Birmingham City Council

Women and minorities

The first woman elected to the council, on 1 November 1911, was Ellen Pinsent.^[17] She represented the Edgbaston Ward as a Liberal Unionist.^[17] She had earlier been co-opted as a member of the council's Education Committee and served as Chairman of the Special School Sub-Committee.^[17] She stood down from the council in October 1913 upon appointment as Commissioner for the Board of Control for Lunacy and Mental Deficiency.^[17]

Pinsent's time on the council overlapped with that of Margaret Frances Pugh, who was elected on 22 November 1911 to serve in the North Erdington ward.^[17] She resigned in November 1913.^[17]

Birmingham's third woman councillor, Clara Martineau, was elected on 14 October 1913 in the Edgbaston ward, and served until 1932, when she died, aged 57.^[17] Her father was former Mayor Sir Thomas Martineau, Lord Mayor Ernest Martineau was her brother, and Alderman Sir George Kenrick was her uncle.^[17]

Mary Cottrell became the first female Labour councillor in February 1917, when she was elected unopposed to the Selly Oak ward. The first female Lord Mayor, Marjorie Brown, held the post from 1973 to 1974. Theresa Stewart became the first female leader in October 1993,^[18] until 1999; and Lin Homer the first female chief executive, was in post from 2002 until 2005.

Bert Carless, a migrant from Jamaica, was elected the City's first non-white councillor in 1979. He was later made an Honorary Alderman.^[19][20]

2023 section 114 finances notice

On 5 September 2023, Birmingham City Council issued a section 114 notice, being the local government equivalent of bankruptcy, stopping all future spending with the exception of money for statutory services, including the protection of vulnerable people.^[21] The leader of the Labour authority stated that the notice was a necessary step to get Birmingham back into a sound financial footing.^[22] The government subsequently appointed commissioners to oversee the running of the council under emergency measures.^[23] The bankruptcy has been ascribed to equal pay liabilities plus a disastrous implementation of an Oracle ERP system.^[24][25]

When the council issued the section 114 notice, it had forecast the reserves would go into a nominal £677.9 million deficit, but when the 2022-2024 accounts were published in July 2025 they showed the reserves had been £784.7 million in credit, more that £1 billion better than forecast. Independent accountants said the forecast had been "based on unaudited and materially incorrect information", and a group of 34 experts in accounting, finance and local government called for a public inquiry to investigate the section 114 notice decision.^[26]

As of 3 February 2026, Birmingham City Council is no longer effectively bankrupt,^[27] though The Guardian reported the negative effect of the period, which includes raising council tax by 17.5% over two years, cutting services previously provided by the council, and sales of council-owned assets bringing in £750 million.^[28] As of February 2026, the council is planning more spending and investment in services.^[29]

2025 bin strike

On 11 March 2025, Members of the Unite union went out on strike due to a long-running dispute over the role of waste recycling and collection officer (WRCO) position being removed. The union claims the move will leave about 150 members £8,000 worse off. Birmingham City Council declared a major incident on 31 March 2025, saying the "regrettable" move was taken in response to public health concerns, as picket lines were blocking depots and preventing waste vehicles from collecting rubbish.^[30]

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2012.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:^[33][34]

Leadership

The role of Lord Mayor of Birmingham is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The first leader of the council after the 1974 reforms, Clive Wilkinson, had been the leader of the old corporation since December 1973.^[35] The leaders since 1973 have been:

Composition

Following the 2026 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2026, the composition of the council was:^[53][4]

Wards and councillors

The wards and councillors are:^[55][56]

Highways

In 2010, Birmingham City Council agreed a 25 year deal with Amey plc to manage the city's highways, but, after allegations of sub-standard repairs to roads and pavements, the council invoked penalty clauses and entered into a prolonged legal dispute.^[68] In December 2018, Amey parent Ferrovial put the business up for sale,^[69] after allocating €237m for losses on Amey's highway maintenance contract with the Council.^[69][70] In February 2019, Amey was close to a deal to exit its Birmingham contract, liabilities from which were preventing the company's sale by Ferrovial.^[71] A £215m deal to terminate Amey's Birmingham contract^[72] was confirmed in July 2019. The council was set to receive £160m in 2019 with a further £55m paid over the next six years, with services continuing on an interim basis until September 2019, and potentially until March 2020.^[73] However, in February 2020, it was announced the Birmingham contract would end in March 2020; Kier Group was appointed as interim contractor for 15 months while the council sought a permanent replacement for Amey.^[74] In February 2022, the city council formally began the process of identifying a contractor to deliver £2.7 billion of works over 12 years,^[75] and invited Kier and Canadian firm SNC-Lavalin to tender for the city’s restructured highways PFI contract, covering more than 2,500km of road and 5,000km of footway. However, in October 2023, the council claimed the government was preparing to "pull the plug" on £600m of highways funding.^[76] Kier were awarded the restructured contract, set to start in February 2024, but the deal was subject to government approval.^[77] The Department for Transport pulled support for the restructured business case, forcing the council to switch to a fully publicly funded model, and in November 2025, the Council invited bids on a new deal to deliver highways and infrastructure worth around £1bn over eight year across the city and wider Midlands.^[78]