CHRIS GAME | RUSSELL LUCKOCK | LETTERS Fond farewell to some fine servants of this great city...
Those who have not achieved high office have been active in their communities for many years and more recently active on social media too.
Among other leading figures are Tony Kennedy, who was recently an assistant leader working on the decentralisation of the city council, James McKay, whose sudden resignation as cabinet member for bins in 2015 was the beginning of the end for Sir Albert Bore’s leadership of the council, and Susan Barnett, who has chaired the education and children’s services scrutiny committee.
A rare combination of factors have fuelled this year’s unprecedented mass departure.
The number of councillors is being cut by 19. This will not only save the taxpayer more than £300,000 a year in backbench allowances, but means that a number of established members had to go regardless of the election.
In party stronghold areas, that has prompted fierce competition for fewer seats.
So it is little surprise that councillors have either stepped down or been squeezed out in Torydominated Sutton Coldfield, Labour-dominated inner city wards or the Lib Dem strongholds in Yardley and Sheldon. In Washwood Heath, for example, Cllr Ansar Ali Khan, a man who secured a whopping 8,000-vote majority two years ago, missed out on the candidacy to his colleague Mohammed Idrees.
Labour has shed more councillors, but then with two-thirds of the current seats it had more to lose and less winnable alternatives for those squeezed out.
But there has also been further churn as the profile of the Labour Party has changed, whether it’s the Corbyn-inspired Momentum activists or shifting ward boundaries, a few established councillors have lost out to newcomers, among them veteran campaigner Tony Kennedy in the new Balsall Heath West ward and Habib Rehman, who was chairman of the council’s trusts and charities committee.
More troubling for those looking for a comeback is that Birmingham is now moving from a cycle of elections to all seats up for grabs every four years – meaning little prospect of a return until 2022.
The handful of by-elections in between will be bitterly contested as a result and I imagine Messrs Kennedy, Khan and Rehman will be looking for any inner city opportunities sooner rather than later.
Of course, a few have taken the opportunity to step down from frontline politics for career, family or other personal reasons.
Regardless of the reason, there is an incredible wealth of experience being lost.
Time and space prevents me going through every individual on the list but there are many who will be missed by this column.
Among them Barry Henley, whose outspoken and frequently excoriating contributions at planning committee and depth of knowledge on finances have helped fill many pages over the years.
And we will no doubt continue to be entertained and informed by the regular social media outpourings from backbenchers Clare Spencer and Ian Cruise among others. Next for me is the election count where no doubt this list will grow longer still...
There is an incredible wealth of experience being lost