Birmingham & Black Country

Local elections 2026
Local elections 2026

Why are the 2026 local elections so significant in the West Midlands?

Political editor Elizabeth Glinka explains the significance of the 14 elections across the region.
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  1. A man with short grey hair, a short beard and mustache is wearing a blue jumper with a grey shirt underneath. He is standing in an empty restaurant which is blurred in the background and shows a black stair rail and black chairs

  3. Monty Panesar has a black headscarf on and wears black glasses. He has black facial hair and is wearing a teal coloured t-shirt with a Twickenham Cricket Club logo on its breast. It is raining around him

  4. This is a three-panel composite image made up of different scenes. Left panel: A still from a dramatic scene showing Leonardi DiCaprio and Kate Winslet standing closely together outdoors, with wind blowing and open sky behind them, a moment from the Titanic film Centre panel: A studio-style portrait of a Jeff Goldblum wearing dark-framed glasses, a black suit, and a textured shirt, set against a plain light background. Right panel: An outdoor scene in a garden or park, showing two women standing beside leafy plants, with a small sign on a post visible among the greenery.

  5. An artist's impression of the new Curzon street station, showing people outside a huge arch entrance with "Birmingham Curzon Street Station" in bold white signage.

  6. A smiling baby boy with short dark hair holds a card reading 'Today I am 11'. He is wearing a white top and is pictured against a pale grey background.

  7. A close up of a baby with short black afro hair. He is leaning to the side and smiling at the camera. In the corner there is a West Midland Police logo

  8. A woman with black hair stood in a street next to a red car

  9. A Peregrine Falcon perched in front of a tall clock tower.

  10. A composite police image of Mohammed Khan and Mohammed Haydar. Both have short dark hair, beards and moustaches.

    • UK
    A teal-coloured Lamborghini on the side of a road with two police vehicles in the background

  12. A white multi-storey building with a sign in Art Deco style that says "The Electric"

  13. An artist's impression of the courts, which are in a line and have purple flooring with glass walls and white lines on the floor. adjacent to them is car parking with black flooring and yellow bay lines

  14. Noah Sibanda has short curly black hair and is smiling. He has a white jumper on and is holding a card that says "today I am 11 months old"

  15. A line of Range Rovers, in various colours, in a dealership car park. On the bonnets of the nearest two, badges Range Rover and Land Rover can be seen. It is a sunny day.

  16. A sleeping newborn baby wearing a pink top, lying against a white textured cushion. Her hands are tucked up under her chin and she has short dark hair. A pink blanket is visible at the bottom of the frame.

  17. David McWilliams pictured sat against a white wall. He is wearing a blue shirt and blue tie.

  18. A man wearing navy blue medical scrubs. He is standing next to diagnostic equipment and is smiling for the photograph.

  19. A woman can be seen dragging a black dog onto a patio area with a lawn behind. There is a green wheelie bin on the left hand side of the image. The woman is wearing a black top and has blonde hair.

  20. A man with very short hair in a blue tracksuit top sitting in a chair

  21. A man with ginger hair, glasses and a beard in a blue shirt in front of a small stained glass window

  22. A wooden church painted blue and green and with pointed windows has a blue sign outside, a woman with shoulder length brown hair is attaching a white poster that says 'polling station' in black writing on it. It is a stock image from a previous election in Birmingham

  23. Ryan Hook stood against a white wall. He has white and grey hair styled in a quiff, wears a mustard T-shirt underneath a blue blazer.

  24. A man wearing glasses, a grey blazer and a light blue shirt stands beside a heavy iron fly press in an industrial workshop. Behind him, strip lighting illuminates a cluttered workspace filled with machinery, tools and equipment. A second worker can be seen in the background on the left of the frame.

  25. A blue stethoscope next to a laptop computer on a wooden table.