The story
Until the 18th century, Birmingham was governed by manorial courts and its parish vestry. A body of improvement commissioners called the Birmingham Street Commissioners was established in 1769 to provide services in the rapidly growing town. Birmingham was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1838, after which it was governed by a body formally called 'the mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Birmingham', generally known as the corporation or town council. William Scholefield became the first mayor and William Redfern was the first town clerk. The corporation absorbed the functions of the street commissioners in 1852.
Birmingham was granted city status on 14 January 1889, after which the corporation was also known as the city council. When elected county councils were established in April 1889, Birmingham was considered large enough for its existing council to provide county-level services, and so it was made a county borough, independent from the new Warwickshire County Council, whilst remaining part of the geographical county of Warwickshire. The dignity of a lord mayor was conferred in 1896, with James Smith being appointed the first Lord Mayor of Birmingham.
The city boundaries have been enlarged many times. Notable expansions were in 1891 (Balsall Heath, Harborne, Saltley and Little Bromwich), 1909 (Quinton), 1911 (Aston Manor, Erdington, Handsworth, Kings Norton, Northfield and Yardley), 1928 (Perry Barr), 1931 (Sheldon and parts of other parishes), and 1974 (Sutton Coldfield).
The county borough was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, being replaced by a metropolitan district of Birmingham, covering the area of the old county borough plus the borough of Sutton Coldfield. The new district was one of seven metropolitan districts within the new metropolitan county of the West Midlands. Birmingham's borough and city statuses and its lord mayoralty passed to the new district and its council.
From 1974 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the West Midlands County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to the county's seven borough councils, including Birmingham City Council, with some services provided through joint committees. In 1995, New Frankley and the Kitwell Estate were transferred into the city from the parish of Frankley in Bromsgrove District.
Since 2016 the council has been a member of the West Midlands Combined Authority, which has been led by the directly elected Mayor of the West Midlands since 2017. The combined authority provides strategic leadership and co-ordination for certain functions across the county, but Birmingham City Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions.
Women and minorities
The first woman elected to the council, on 1 November 1911, was Ellen Pinsent. She represented the Edgbaston Ward as a Liberal Unionist. She had earlier been co-opted as a member of the council's Education Committee and served as Chairman of the Special School Sub-Committee. She stood down from the council in October 1913 upon appointment as Commissioner for the Board of Control for Lunacy and Mental Deficiency.
Pinsent's time on the council overlapped with that of Margaret Frances Pugh, who was elected on 22 November 1911 to serve in the North Erdington ward. She resigned in November 1913.
Read the full text
Birmingham's third woman councillor, Clara Martineau, was elected on 14 October 1913 in the Edgbaston ward, and served until 1932, when she died, aged 57. Her father was former Mayor Sir Thomas Martineau, Lord Mayor Ernest Martineau was her brother, and Alderman Sir George Kenrick was her uncle.
Mary Cottrell became the first female Labour councillor in February 1917, when she was elected unopposed to the Selly Oak ward. The first female Lord Mayor, Marjorie Brown, held the post from 1973 to 1974. Theresa Stewart became the first female leader in October 1993, until 1999; and Lin Homer the first female chief executive, was in post from 2002 until 2005.
Bert Carless, a migrant from Jamaica, was elected the City's first non-white councillor in 1979. He was later made an Honorary Alderman.
2023 section 114 finances notice
On 5 September 2023, Birmingham City Council issued a section 114 notice, being the local government equivalent of bankruptcy, stopping all future spending with the exception of money for statutory services, including the protection of vulnerable people. The leader of the Labour authority stated that the notice was a necessary step to get Birmingham back into a sound financial footing. The government subsequently appointed commissioners to oversee the running of the council under emergency measures. The bankruptcy has been ascribed to equal pay liabilities plus a disastrous implementation of an Oracle ERP system.
When the council issued the section 114 notice, it had forecast the reserves would go into a nominal £677.9 million deficit, but when the 2022-2024 accounts were published in July 2025 they showed the reserves had been £784.7 million in credit, more that £1 billion better than forecast. Independent accountants said the forecast had been "based on unaudited and materially incorrect information", and a group of 34 experts in accounting, finance and local government called for a public inquiry to investigate the section 114 notice decision.
As of 3 February 2026, Birmingham City Council is no longer effectively bankrupt, though The Guardian reported the negative effect of the period, which includes raising council tax by 17.5% over two years, cutting services previously provided by the council, and sales of council-owned assets bringing in £750 million. As of February 2026, the council is planning more spending and investment in services.
2025 bin strike
On 11 March 2025, Members of the Unite union went out on strike due to a long-running dispute over the role of waste recycling and collection officer (WRCO) position being removed. The union claims the move will leave about 150 members £8,000 worse off. Birmingham City Council declared a major incident on 31 March 2025, saying the "regrettable" move was taken in response to public health concerns, as picket lines were blocking depots and preventing waste vehicles from collecting rubbish.
From Wikipedia’s article on Birmingham City Council, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5