Reform UK Tops Birmingham Council Vote, Labour Loses 14-Year Hold

Outgoing Labour leader John Cotton conceded defeat at the election count in Birmingham's Utilita Arena on Friday. He urged the next administration to champion the city's diversity, whatever form it takes.

Labour's 14-year control of the council ended abruptly. Reform emerged as the largest party with 22 councillors so far, followed by the Greens with 19. Both fell far short of the 51 seats needed for a majority.

Labour shed more than 1,400 councillors in England's local elections on Thursday and lost power in Wales for the first time. The party also slipped in Scotland. Nigel Farage called the results a truly historic shift in British politics.

Reform UK's gains have alarmed members of minority communities across the UK. Many fear a surge in hostile rhetoric.

Mus of Brummies United Against Racism, a Birmingham group formed after far-right leaflets appeared on neighbors' doors, called Reform's success really concerning. "We're really disappointed. We've been campaigning to make sure our city is a safe space for our communities," she said. "We know if we get a Reform government what that means to our communities – black, brown, migrant communities."

Shaista Gohir, chair of the Birmingham-based Muslim Women's Network, said people felt worried and anxious. "What does that mean for [communities] in terms of our safety, the quality of services that we're going to receive," she said. "Is anti-Muslim rhetoric going to really escalate locally? There is a lot of concern."

Similar worries surfaced elsewhere. In Sunderland, a newly elected Reform councillor faced suspension days after the vote. The anti-racism group Hope Not Hate found a deleted post where he wrote: "Carnt [sic] believe amount of nigerians in town … should melt them all down and fill in the pot holes."

Shaista Aziz, an Oxford-based anti-racism campaigner and community organizer, said minority groups braced for more racism. Friends and family feared they could no longer live safely in the UK. "Many British Muslim communities feel scared and intimidated by the Reform victories and also feel sad that their neighbours have voted for a party that openly calls for the deportation of members of our communities and can't call out their councillors for their deeply racist rhetoric," she said.

Talat Yaqoob, an equalities campaigner in Edinburgh, noted fears after Reform took 17 seats in the Scottish parliament, tying Labour for second behind the SNP. "We know marginalised communities are worried about Reform's wins and how these wins are interpreted on the ground by those who are already targeting them," Yaqoob said. "They are worried for their safety, they are worried about their futures. Now that we have some Reform MSPs, they need to be held to account, they must be held to the standards we expect of those with the privilege of public office – that means calling out their disinformation and their divisive language."

Pinar Aksu of Glasgow-based Refugees for Justice said the country had entered a new era of politics where racism sat in parliament. She joined hundreds at a unity march in Glasgow city center on Saturday. "It was good to come together to share these feelings of disappointment and anger," she said.

Gohir pointed to concerns about independent campaigners in Birmingham too. Criminal lawyer Akhmed Yakoob, who has a large social media following, allied with George Galloway's Workers Party to run about 70 prospective councillors. Sky News caught him saying, "Zionists control everything." He also labeled a video of Green Party leader Zack Polanski dancing in Trafalgar Square as degeneracy. Yakoob has denied antisemitism allegations.

Birmingham Labour councillor David Barker called it the worst campaign he had fought. He said homophobia and transphobia felt more acceptable now. "It really doesn't represent, I think, the way most people in Birmingham feel," he said. "But unfortunately, in a deeply divided election when you can win with 20% of the vote, you are going to get sometimes a minority view winning."

At Friday's count, the Guardian asked Reform MP Richard Tice about community concerns in Birmingham. Tice cut in several times. "If they were fearful, why would they be voting for us?" he said. He added: "I'm concerned for the Jewish community and about the antisemitism, the abuse they get, and I want people at the Guardian and other lefty newspapers to focus on that rather than one other particular community. Are we clear?"

Mus said her group's work would intensify after Reform's advances. "We worry about the implication for residents in our city, but in our responses now we have to work harder, we have to double our efforts because our futures depend on it," she said. "We're not going to allow them to divide us."

Reform UK and Akhmed Yakoob received requests for comment.