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Attempts are being made to form rainbow coalitions around the country after more councils ended up in no overall control following the elections.It is understood both Labour and the Conservatives have been told not to work with the Greens while Reform UK is unlikely to join ‘formal coalitions' to run councils.A deal to form a coalition at Worcestershire CC by the Conservatives, Greens, Lib Dems and three independent councillors was dealt a blow when Tory leader Kemi Badenoch blocked the move.Asked if his party would enter coalitions, Reform's head of local government delivery Ben Bradley said: ‘There's certainly all sorts of considerations to that, both locally and nationally, in terms of the politics of it all so, yes, it is something that requires engagement with the party centrally.‘I don't think, looking at it as we stand, that there are any places where we'd be looking to make formal coalitions, but, inevitably, there are places where we are the largest party in the minority, and we're going to have to find a way to figure out who runs it and how they run it.‘We're not interested in getting into bed with other political parties in any formal sense, but we will, where it's incumbent on us to form an administration, look at the best practical ways to be able to do that and to run the thing.'After the elections earlier this month, Reform is the largest party in several authorities – including Norfolk, Bradford, Birmingham, Nuneaton and Bedworth and, jointly with the Lib Dems in West Sussex – but without a clear majority.Despite emerging as the biggest single party on Birmingham City Council with 23 seats, Reform was still well short of the 51 seats it needed for an outright majority.As The MJ went to press, Birmingham postponed its decision on electing a leader after Reform admitted there was ‘no viable route' for the party to take control of the council and Labour group leader Nicky Brennan said she would ‘not be entering into any coalition agreement or power-sharing arrangement with other parties'.Writing on social media, Cllr Alex Yip, the deputy leader of Birmingham Conservatives, which won 16 seats, said: ‘Without even approaching all groups to try to form an administration, Reform has admitted it cannot fix Birmingham City Council. They've not even been in the job one day, and they've given up.'Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield Sir Andrew Mitchell, a former Cabinet minister, said the election result would make governance ‘even more difficult than it was before'.He urged local government secretary Steve Reed to be ‘on red alert' and suggested he would need to give Birmingham's commissioners ‘far greater powers'.Sir Andrew said: ‘Vulnerable people, old and young, depend on Birmingham City Council turning a page and becoming a more effective giver of good local governance.'

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POLITICS

Rainbow coalitions form as more councils fall under NOC

By Dan Peters, Ann McGauran | 20 May 2026

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