Labour hold by-election seat despite council woes
THE Labour party retained its seat in the first election of a Birmingham city councillor since the authority’s unprecedented ‘bankrupty’. A by-election in the Bournbrook and Selly Park ward was called following the resignation of Brigid Jones, a former cabinet member for finance who won with a significant majority in the 2022 elections.
While the next city-wide election will take place in 2026, this by-election was an opportunity for thousands of voters, in this particular ward at least, to have their say amid the council’s financial difficulties.
The council has found itself in a dire financial situation due to a number of issues including Birmingham-specific factors, such as an equal pay fiasco and the disastrous implementation of a new IT and finance system, as well as the rising demand for services and the impact of years of austerity. Over the past few weeks, the Labour and Co-Operative party were campaigning to keep the seat in the face of opposition from the local Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Green Party, Workers Party of Britain, Socialist Alternative and an independent.
The huge planned wave of cuts to local services were a key focus for many of the candidates, with some criticising the Labour-run council and pledging to reverse the cuts.
The local Conservatives said the by-election was a chance to send a message to the council to change its course by electing its candidate Dr Andrew Hardie.
Joe Norris, for the Liberal Democrats, criticised both the Conservative government and Labour council, arguing it was “time for real change and a new direction”.
The Green Party’s Carla Charles, meanwhile, said she wanted to send a message to the “Labour-run council and the Tory government that these cuts to local services are completely outrageous”.
Prior to the by-election, Labour candidate Jamie Scott argued that funding had been stripped from Birmingham over the past 14 years.
He also said he had spoken to residents about “how the impact of the Tories crashing the economy has left people across Birmingham paying the price”. Mr Scott, who works for a charity that provides support services for survivors of domestic abuse and those who need help with drug and alcohol use, won the by-election with 1,346 votes.