Lashing out: the death throes of Birmingham’s coalition

By Claire Spencer / @thedancingflea

The Labour Party had a very good night in Birmingham on Thursday. They held all 14 seats that they were defending, gained six from the Conservatives, six from the Liberal Democrats, and one from Respect. This pushed Labour’s total seats to 55, making them the largest party in Birmingham City Council, but still five short of the 60 seats they need to take control.

This leaves a weakened Tory-Lib Dem coalition at the helm of Europe’s largest local authority. Of course, there are other options: and people were curious, what about a coalition between Labour and the Liberal Democrats? I’d say not: it might work on numbers, but not on politics. The current Conservative-Lib Dem coalition has controlled the council since 2004, and while there have been indicators of personal animosity, in practice, they are as one, and will stand together until the end.

That’s what I would have said. But deputy leader Councillor Paul Tilsley, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, made a more dramatic case for the status quo:

“If we were to jump into bed with Labour, it would be a bit like Churchill joining forces with Hitler after the war”.

Charming.

At best, the analogy is naive and inelegant: the political differences between Birmingham Labour and Birmingham Lib Dems are significant in their way, but you and I know that it is in no way comparable to the differences between Churchill and the Nazis post-WWII. At worst, he compares Birmingham Labour to a political party that persecuted and exterminated millions based on ethnicity, disability and sexuality.

If the latter were true, I’d call for Councillor Tilsley’s head on a plate, but I am sure that the former explanation better captures his meaning. He tried to express contempt for his political rivals, and did so distastefully and poorly. He deserved censure, and he got censure – because a man of his experience should have known better. His apology couldn’t come soon enough, and it did.

Such outbursts are a symptom of the decline of Birmingham’s coalition (and there have been others) – cries of desperation from those who are running out of voter patience. Because on Thursday, when the people of Birmingham cast more votes for Labour than the Tories and Lib Dems combined, they told them that they didn’t want illegal cuts to social care provision. They didn’t want to lose their community police teams. They didn’t want councillors who cut budgets with one hand, while dragging officers over the coals for making tough decisions with the other.

In short, they were telling them that they no longer trusted them with their quality of life, with their hopes, fears and aspirations – and that they were giving Labour another chance. I guess that stung.