| Election Name: | 2022 Birmingham City Council election |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Flag Image: | Flag of Birmingham, United Kingdom.svg |
| Previous Election: | 2018 Birmingham City Council election |
| Previous Year: | 2018 |
| Next Election: | 2026 Birmingham City Council election |
| Next Year: | 2026 |
| Majority Seats: | 51 |
| Election Date: | 5 May 2022 |
| Leader1: | Ian Ward |
| Party1: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Last Election1: | 67 seats, 50.2% |
| Seats1: | 65 |
| Seat Change1: | 2 |
| Popular Vote1: | 169,977 |
| Percentage1: | 51.5% |
| Swing1: | 1.3% |
| Leader2: | Robert Alden |
| Party2: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Last Election2: | 25 seats, 28.8% |
| Seats2: | 22 |
| Seat Change2: | 3 |
| Popular Vote2: | 90,650 |
| Percentage2: | 27.5% |
| Swing2: | 1.3% |
| Leader4: | Jon Hunt |
| Party4: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
| Last Election4: | 8 seats, 14.1% |
| Seats4: | 12 |
| Seat Change4: | 4 |
| Popular Vote4: | 48,939 |
| Percentage4: | 14.8% |
| Swing4: | 0.7% |
| Leader5: | Julien Pritchard |
| Party5: | Green Party of England and Wales |
| Last Election5: | 1 seats, 4.4% |
| Seats5: | 2 |
| Seat Change5: | 1 |
| Popular Vote5: | 17,072 |
| Percentage5: | 5.2% |
| Swing5: | 0.8% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Council control | |
| Posttitle: | Council control after election |
| Before Election: | Ian Ward |
| Before Party: | Labour Party (UK) |
| After Election: | Ian Ward |
| After Party: | Labour Party (UK) |
The 2022 Birmingham City Council election took place on 5 May 2022, with all 101 council seats up for election across 37 single-member and 32 two-member wards.[1] The election was held alongside other local elections across Great Britain and town council elections in Sutton Coldfield.
In the previous council election in 2018, the first all-out elections in Birmingham, Labour maintained its control of the council, winning 67 seats. The Conservatives formed the main opposition with twenty-five seats, with the Liberal Democrats on eight and the Green Party winning a single seat. In 2022, Labour maintained overall control. The Liberal Democrats and the Greens gained seats at the expense of Labour and the Conservatives.
The Local Government Act 1972 created a two-tier system of metropolitan counties and districts covering Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, the West Midlands, and West Yorkshire starting in 1974. Birmingham was a district of the West Midlands metropolitan county.[2] The Local Government Act 1985 abolished the metropolitan counties, with metropolitan districts taking on most of their powers as metropolitan boroughs. The West Midlands Combined Authority was created in 2016 and began electing the mayor of the West Midlands from 2017, which was given strategic powers covering a region coterminous with the former West Midlands metropolitan county.[3]
Since its formation Birmingham City Council has variously been under Labour control, Conservative control and no overall control. Councillors have predominantly been elected from the Labour Party, Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats. The council has had an overall Labour majority since the 2012 council election, when they regained control from the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition that had run the city since 2004.[4] In the most recent council election in 2018, Labour won 67 seats with 50.2% of the vote, the Conservatives won 25 seats with 28.8% of the vote, the Liberal Democrats won 8 seats with 14.1% of the vote and the Green Party won a single seat with 4.4% of the vote.[5]
The Labour councillor for Oscott Keith Linnecor died in February 2020, having served on the council for 25 years.[6] [7] Labour councillors for Billesley and Hall Green North, Lucy Seymour-Smith and Lou Robson, resigned.[8] The former Labour council leader John Clancy also resigned his council seat in Quinton. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all four by-elections were held in May 2021 alongside the local elections across the country including the West Midlands mayoral election. The Labour candidates Katherine Carlisle and Saima Suleman were elected in Billesley and Hall Green North; while the Conservative candidates Darius Sandhu and Dominic Stanford made gains for their party in Oscott and Quinton.[9] A Liberal Democrat councillor for Yardley East, Neil Eustace, died in September 2021. He had served on the council for 35 years.[10] The Liberal Democrat candidate Deborah Harries successfully defended his seat in the October 2021 by-election.[11] The Labour MP for Birmingham Erdington Jack Dromey died in January 2022. The Labour candidate Paulette Hamilton won the by-election held to fill the seat in March, with an increased share of the vote.[12] The Labour councillor Zhor Malik defected to the Conservative Party in February 2022.[13]
The Labour Party pledged to "treble" the number of speed cameras in the city if they were re-elected.[14] The Liberal Democrats pledge to quadruple speed cameras, propose funding for up to 400 "walking bus conductors" and look to devolve the powers and resources of the council to more localised groups.[15]
Birmingham City council has been controlled by the Labour Party since 2012. The Conservative Party last held sole control of the council in 1984. It was under no overall control from 2003 until 2012, run by a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition from 2003 to 2004 and by a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition from 2004 to 2012.[16]
| After 2018 election | Before 2022 election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Seats | Party | Seats | ||
| 67 | 62 | ||||
| 25 | 28 | ||||
| 8 | 8 | ||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||
Changes:
|}
Birmingham City Council began publishing ward results on 6 May 2022.[30]
The Bournbrook and Selly Park by-election was triggered by the resignation of Labour councillor Brigid Jones.[37]
The Kingstanding by-election was triggered by the resignation of Conservative councillor Rick Payne.
The Kings Norton North by-election was triggered by the resignation of Labour councillor Alex Aitken.
The Northfield by-election was triggered by the resignation of Labour councillor Kirsten Kurt-Elli.