Former West Midlands Mayor speaks of optimism about Birmingham’s future despite recent turmoil ‘crippling’ city’s reputation

Brum has in recent years experienced turbulence in the form of a financial crisis at the city council and an ongoing bins strike, which recently dragged on into its second year.

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Councillor John Cotton, the leader of the Labour-run council, described Birmingham as an ‘investment powerhouse’ and suggested better days were ahead despite such challenges.

But there’s been deep anger from opposition councillors and many have suggested that the city’s reputation had taken a hammering – with one even arguing that Birmingham had been turned into a ‘cesspit’.

Asked about these two visions of how Birmingham is being perceived earlier this week, former Conservative Mayor Andy Street suggested both could be true.

“This is the great irony of the place,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service, adding that Birmingham boasted “incredible” investment numbers during his time as Mayor.

“But it’s also true that the bankruptcy of the council, and the ongoing bins strike, has really, really crippled Birmingham’s reputation,” he continued.

“You talk to investors anywhere in the world, they will ask you about those things.

“You talk to news presenters, comedians, anybody – they talk about those aspects of Birmingham’s reputation.”

Mr Street, who was mayor of the region for seven years before he was ousted by Labour’s Richard Parker back in 2024, continued that Brum still has huge potential however.

“The economic fundamentals and potential of this city are still there and my view is that it needs new leadership to really drive that forward,” he said.

“But it is true that the economic potential and investment stats are very positive.”

Amid recent ‘disappointment’ with the Labour government and the ‘rise of Reform’ on the right, Mr Street has joined forces with other Tory figures to launch Prosper UK – a centre-right group to entice voters back to the Conservative Party.

The former Mayor was in Birmingham on Monday to meet with supporters and businesses, with those in this new movement wanting to prioritise ‘enterprise and growth’.

Asked about major planned developments in the city centre such as HS2, the Sports Quarter and Smithfield, Mr Street said: “All of these things are absolutely mission critical to the brand of Birmingham.

“It’s about opportunities for our young citizens.

“Businesses that came to relocate here, a number of them did so on the back of the HS2 commitment actually.

“And the Sports Quarter is going to regenerate that part of east Birmingham and when I was Mayor, I was very keen that with Tom Wagner the deal was done for the land for the stadium.

“So there’s a whole list of really outstanding investment opportunities here.

“There’s so many things to be optimistic about,” he added. “But it’s completely shrouded by this current reputation of Birmingham, which needs solving as quickly as possible after the elections.”

Labour council leader John Cotton was questioned earlier this month about Birmingham’s reputation and said: “As someone who’s a proud Brummie, born and bred, I think we’ve got a responsibility to always talk this place up.

“What you don’t want to do is damage the kind of business confidence that is leading to the record levels of investment coming into the city, that’s driving economic growth in some of the biggest growth sectors in the country.

“Whether that’s life sciences, advance manufacturing, the creative sector – which of course we’re celebrating with the Peaky Blinders launch.”

On whether Brummies in more left-behind communities were feeling the benefits of such investment, he acknowledged there is a “tale of two cities” in Birmingham.

“That is unacceptable,” he said. “Too many people still are left behind when it comes to being able to access the jobs and opportunities that are growing in the city.

“We still have too many children growing up in poverty, we still have a gap in life expectancy that’s too wide between the richest and poorest.

“That’s what we’ve got to fix.

“That’s why it’s so important, having turned around the finances of the council, we’re now in a position to work with the Mayor, government, business and communities to break down those barriers so everybody can participate and thrive in what I still absolutely believe is the greatest city in the world.”

Birmingham-specific issues, such as the equal pay debacle and the disastrous implementation of an IT system, were among the factors that contributed to the financial crisis at the council.

Labour councillors have also repeatedly highlighted funding cuts during the previous Conservative government.