Council leader loses 'cheap trick' confidence vote

2 hours ago

Aida FofanaWest Midlands

News image — The authority described itself as being under John Cotton's "strong leadership"

BBC A man wearing a white shirt with small blue pattern and suit jacket. He is standing in a corridor that is on the top of a landing and has green carpet as well as a door at the end. He has short brown hair with a side parting. — The authority described itself as being under John Cotton's "strong leadership"

Birmingham City Council's leader has lost a vote of confidence, but his administration has insisted the "cheap trick" would have "no implications" for his leadership.

The vote against Labour's John Cotton came at the last full council meeting before local elections on 7 May.

All 101 council seats in Birmingham will be contested at a critical time for the city, which has suffered the fallout of effective bankruptcy and the ongoing bins strike.

Tensions over these issues lingered at Tuesday's meeting, which saw the Conservatives put in the no confidence vote in a last-minute amendment to a motion.

The motion argued that Labour had "broken Birmingham City Council" and triggered a heated debate within the council chamber.

The Tories were backed by other opposition councillors in the vote to outnumber the ruling group.

'Humilating and costly'

"We've had the council declaring effective bankruptcy which was humiliating and costly," Conservative councillor Deirdre Alden said. "On top of more taxes, we've got a collapse in services so it's a double whammy."

Liberal Democrat councillor Colin Green said the council was "broken but fixable" and argued mistakes by the Labour administration had inflicted huge financial pain on the authority.

Conservative group leader Robert Alden then told the chamber that an amendment saying the council had no confidence in the leader had been moved.

The following vote saw the amendment passed.

Is there an election in my area?

In the aftermath, Alden said: "Today's vote needs to be a turning point for Birmingham.

"Labour's leader has lost the confidence of the council because Labour has lost the confidence of the people."

The Labour group accused the Tories of playing a "cheap trick with the support of their allies in the Liberal Democrats and the Greens", adding it had "no implications for the leadership of the council".

"We are carrying on with the job of investing £130 million into frontline services across the city under the strong leadership of John Cotton," the group added.

At last month's budget meeting, the leader of the council said it was no longer bankrupt and that an extra £130 million was being invested in council services, focusing on "cleaner, safer streets".

Factors such as the equal pay dispute and problems with the Oracle IT system contributed to the financial crisis, while Labour councillors have pointed the finger at funding cuts during the previous Conservative government.

The bins dispute between the council and Unite was sparked by the loss of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer role, with striking workers claiming that they faced a pay cut of £8,000.

Birmingham City Council has disputed this figure, however, and insisted that a fair offer had been made before negotiations ended last summer.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.