Birmingham is awash with local election candidates – but will result be a ‘coalition of chaos’?

Some fear a fragmented field of hopefuls from Labour, the Conservatives, Greens, Reform and Independents could leave city ungovernable

Paul Tilsley was 23 when he was first elected for the Liberal party in Birmingham’s 1968 council elections. At the time, the UK had an unpopular Labour government facing an economic crisis, tensions around immigration and US pressure to back military action abroad.

Such a backdrop may seem familiar, but this May, the all-out local elections in Birmingham could not be more different. Tilsley, now a Lib Dem, faces a fragmented field with candidates from Labour, the Conservatives, Greens, Reform and Independents all competing for his seat and no party expected to win an overall majority at the council.