New Birmingham City Council leader pledges "to clean up our streets"
Liberal Democrat Roger Harmer will lead a coalition alongside the Greens and independent councillors
Last updated 7 hours ago
Liberal Democrat Roger Harmer has been elected as leader of Birmingham City Council after promising to “clean up our streets” as part of a coalition involving the Green Party and independent councillors.
Cllr Harmer told a full meeting of the authority on Friday that the coalition would bring “fresh ideas and a shared commitment to rebuilding trust” in the council, which has been embroiled in a long-running bin strike.
He also promised to listen carefully to the views of other parties on the authority.
Councillors elected Mr Harmer as leader of the 101-seat authority in the first round of voting with 40 votes, beating challenges from Conservative group leader Robert Alden (19 votes) and Reform UK’s Jex Parkin (18 votes).
In a speech before the vote, Cllr Harmer said of the proposed coalition: “Together we bring diverse perspectives, but we also acknowledge we do not have all the answers and we will listen carefully to other groups on the council.
“Last month the electors gave us a politically fragmented council. We respect that judgment and that residents wanted elected councillors to work together for the good of the city.
“We accept the challenge to listen much more closely to partners who are in the public sector, business, community or voluntary sectors.”
Continuing his pitch to lead the council, Mr Harmer noted: “It has now been over four weeks since the election. Four weeks in which Birmingham has waited – waited for leadership, for decisions, for direction.
“The time for hesitation has passed. Delaying further would do a disservice to those we were elected to serve.
“Let us put Birmingham back on course, clean up our streets, re-engage with our communities, tackle anti-social behaviour, repair our roads and protect and invest in our public services and public spaces.
“The people of Birmingham deserve nothing less. Together we can provide the stability, ambition and practical action our city needs. Let us be the council that says and proves that Birmingham comes first.”
In his speech to the meeting, Cllr Alden said Birmingham had been “badly let down” in recent years by the previous Labour administration.
He said: “Whoever forms the next administration, be it ourselves or someone else round this chamber, they’re going to inherit a city that has gone from the cleanest city in Britain under the Conservative-led council in 2007… to one where residents have seen rubbish pile up and a bin strike that’s gone on for 18 months.
“This city doesn’t need blame it needs solutions,” Cllr Alden added.
Cllr Parkin, Reform UK’s leader in the city, told the meeting: “The decline of this great city needs to end. It will come as no shock to members of this council to learn that public confidence in this local authority is at rock bottom.
“And why is that? Because we see it every day. The state of our roads, the rubbish on our streets, the rising crime, and indeed the decline of our neighbourhoods.”
He said of the proposed coalition involving Lib Dems, independents and the Green Party: “Birmingham didn’t vote for what we see tonight – a chaotic coalition of musical chairs.”
The previous Labour-run council fell into no overall control after the May 7 local election when 13 independent candidates were voted in and John Cotton, the leader of the authority during its refuse dispute, lost his seat.
Reform UK (23) and the Green Party (19) won the largest number of seats after a collapse in Labour’s vote share.