We meet the independent Birmingham councillor candidates fighting for a political 'shake-up' in the 2026 local elections amid all the cuts to services in the city

“It’s a sorry sight,” resident James Cross tells me as we greet each other outside the former Harborne Day Centre.

The building used to be a lifeline for many families, providing care and support for vulnerable adults – but it’s now vacant, hidden away behind locked gates with windows covered up.

It was one of four centres which closed under a cloud of controversy last year after Birmingham City Council declared itself effectively bankrupt and made an unprecedented wave of cuts to services.

For James Cross, whose family member attended Harborne before being moved to another centre, the closure spurred him to get involved in politics and run as an independent in the upcoming local elections in May.

All 101 council seats across Birmingham will be contested, which means the election will decide which party or coalition runs the council during the next four years at least.

Birmingham Labour will be hoping to keep control of the council but will face opposition from parties such as Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Reform UK, as well as independents.

Mr Cross is one of the many independent candidates across the country who argue that residents have lost faith in the main political parties.

“I’ve always been interested in politics but I’ve never been involved in any political party or that type of thing,” he tells me during my visit to the Harborne area.

“But obviously I’ve seen the level of cuts being made across the city and I know how damaging they are.

“I’ve seen the importance of adult day services and how much they’re needed – they’ve gone from nine down to five day centres now.”

On how turmoil within the city council has affected Harborne residents, he says: “You learn people don’t like vulnerable people being targeted, which is exactly what we think happened [with the day centre].

“The bins dispute has been going on for over a year too, that’s a key issue.

“It’s a sorry state of affairs because people have become accustomed to it now.

“There’s people I know that have been walking a mile and a half on the day of the tip truck with their wheelie bin just to get it emptied.”

He goes on to argue that the future of Harborne Library remains uncertain too, saying: “It’s short-term thinking all the time – we’re failing future generations.”

Asked if there is an appetite for independent candidates among frustrated voters, Mr Cross says: “I think now is the perfect time for independents really because I think national politics is in the gutter.

“People have lost confidence in the current Labour government, the Conservatives aren’t anywhere to be seen really.

“Obviously Reform are trying to build a presence across the country but again, we’re standing on the basis of ‘look at the people who have been fighting for Harborne and trying to save public services’.

“We’re working for the people of Harborne and wanting to improve the lives of people here.”

“I think we need fresh people in the council,” he continues. “We’re very used to having the same people with the same policies, the same agenda.

“I do think now it’s time to shake it up a bit and have different voices with different thoughts, ideas and suggestions – rather than the same people over and over again.

“We’ll have to wait and see what happens in May but I can’t see any political party having an overall majority.”

‘City’s social fabric under threat’

Four years ago, Birmingham Labour’s candidates confidently won the two seats in Harborne in the 2022 local elections.

But one of those candidates – Councillor Martin Brooks – has since quit Labour and is now campaigning as an independent in the ward alongside James Cross.

He had been at odds with his former party before his departure late 2024, having grown frustrated with the council’s plans for libraries and day centres while also criticising issues such as the Oracle and equal pay debacles.

He is one of a number of former Birmingham Labour councillors who have become independent recently, with the party’s majority on the council having now fallen to just over 50.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Coun Brooks accused the council’s Labour administration of “gross incompetence” and argued cuts were threatening the “social fabric” of the city.

“I was particularly concerned about the closure of Harborne Day Centre,” he said about his exit from the Labour.

“It affects the users, carers and families but the people in Harborne have a social conscious and were angry to see this kind of facility taken off the most vulnerable.”

Looking ahead to the elections, he said: “I’d like to see more community-based independents in the city and a council that better represents communities in the city.

“But it’s quite difficult for many independents to get going – the existing parties got electoral data and the party infrastructure.

“I think that’s a bit of a problem.”

Coun Brooks was confident however that the independents could see victory in Harborne, adding there was a “lot of interest” from residents in the campaigning work that he and James Cross have been doing.

He also suggested the city council being left with no party having overall control is a real possibility and that there may be a need for more “consensus” across political groupings.

It was Birmingham specific issues such as the equal pay and Oracle debacles that contributed to the council’s ‘bankruptcy’ while Labour councillors have also pointed the finger at funding cuts during the previous Conservative government.

On the closure of the adult day centres in particular, Labour councillor Rob Pocock, who is overseeing the council’s transformation, said in 2024: “We need to save on costs and the remaining centres need to be fully utilised.

“Citizens using our centres have said they want to have a wider variety of activities outside the day centres and this is what we are also developing, as part of a more modern 21st century service”.

He said at the time that anyone wanting to use a council day centre would still be able to and that no staff were being made redundant.

‘Residents understand tough decisions’

Asked about the upcoming local elections, Labour council leader John Cotton recently said: “I’m having lots of conversations on doorsteps in my own patch and across the city.

“And I think people do understand that we’ve had to do some difficult things to turn the council around and they understand that if you’re in power, you sometimes have to take tough decisions.

“You take those decisions because you know it’s the right thing to do for the long-term stability of the council.

“We are now in a position where we’re able to say having done that hard work, we’re now able to look to the future and look at how we collaborate with a Labour Mayor and Labour government that’s committed to turning around the legacy of austerity.

“Great days ahead if we seize them and work together at all levels of government.”

The bins strike dispute between the council and Unite has seen striking workers claim they face a pay cut of £8,000 – the council disputes this figure and say a fair offer had been made.

A full list of candidates standing in Harborne is set to be published in April and will be covered in full by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The Conservatives have confirmed their candidates in this particular ward are Hugo Rasenberg and Amaar Shahzada.

The Tories, along with Labour, Liberal Democrats, Green Party, Reform UK and others, are expected to contest seats across Birmingham alongside independents.