Birmingham City Council leader quits

Birmingham City Council leader John Clancy has resigned just hours before a crunch meeting of Labour Party councillors that could have resulted in him being binned.

The meeting was a response to what was seen as his mishandling of the industrial action by the city’s binmen, which restarted two weeks ago.

He was facing a possible vote of no confidence after Labour councillors began to rebel openly about his leadership.

Clancy has been leader of Birmingham City Council since December 2015, replacing Sir Albert Bore.

He had stepped down as leader of the city council and of the Birmingham Labour Party with immediate effect.

Clancy said: “It has become clear to me that frenzied media speculation about the Birmingham waste dispute is beginning to harm Birmingham City Council and the Birmingham Labour Party.

“I can see no end to such speculation, as ill-informed as much of it is, for as long as I remain Leader.”

The deputy leader of Birmingham City Council, Cllr Ian Ward, will be acting leader. He came third in the leadership elections that saw Clancy selected.

More to follow.

John Clancy’s full statement:

“It has become clear to me that frenzied media speculation about the Birmingham waste dispute is beginning to harm Birmingham City Council and the Birmingham Labour Party. I can see no end to such speculation, as ill-informed as much of it is, for as long as I remain Leader.

“I have therefore decided to resign both as Leader of the Labour group and as the Leader of Birmingham City Council with immediate effect.

“I would wish to stress that the actions I took along with my cabinet to negotiate an end to an extremely complex and difficult industrial dispute were done with the best of intentions. None of us are perfect, and I made some mistakes, for which I am sorry and take full responsibility.

“I am honoured to have been Leader of the council since December 2015 and proud of the many achievements during my time in charge. These include issuing the first £45 million ‘Brummie Bond’ for local housing, and two other initiatives that generated substantial savings for the council – renegotiating the ICT joint venture agreement with Capita, and reaching agreement to reduce the council’s annual payments to the West Midlands Local Government Pension Fund.

“Events in my personal life during this year have convinced me that there are issues of far more importance than Birmingham City Council, and although this has been said by politicians many times before, on this occasion I really am looking forward to spending more time with my family.”