The Home Secretary has described “a devastating night in Birmingham and across the country” after Labour lost control of the city council.
Counting votes for the remaining places on Birmingham City Council was halted with no overall control amid a five-party split on Friday night.
Labour’s 14 years of leading Birmingham finished after gains from Reform, Greens and a block of independents.
Shabana Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood since 2010, said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer “has rightly said we must do better”.
With two of the 101 seats remaining to be decided, Reform had won 22 seats, Green Party 19, Labour 17, Conservatives 16, independents 13 and Liberal Democrats 12. Each fell well short of the 51 seats for a majority.
Returning officer Rob Connelly confirmed that the count in the remaining ward would resume on Monday.
Late on Friday the Home Secretary posted on X: “A devastating night in Birmingham and across the country. Good public servants, colleagues and friends have lost their seats.”
She added: “This was a verdict on us not them. The PM has rightly said we must do better. It is a privilege to serve the British people and we must live up to it.”
The undeclared Glebe Farm and Tile Cross ward is understood to have gone to several recounts.
The city council’s leader during the long-running bin strike, Labour’s John Cotton, has urged whoever replaces him as head of the authority to push through a proposal to settle the dispute. The bitter 14-month disagreement on pay and jobs led to rubbish piling up on the streets and residents complaining it was a health hazard.
Speaking to the media at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena after it became clear Labour’s vote share had collapsed, Mr Cotton said his administration had made difficult decisions to bring the city’s finances back into balance.
He said: “I would encourage the next administration to build on those foundations and not to engage in acts that would take us back to some of the mistakes that have dogged Birmingham in the past. Around a week or so ago I set out the terms of a deal that I believe will bring these strikes to a close. Whoever occupies the leader’s chair, as I move away from it… needs to ensure they take that deal through as a priority. So we can bring this to a close and the people of Birmingham get the bin service they deserve.”
