SPECIAL REPORT: An election like no other in Birmingham | The News Agents

It’s polling day in elections across Great Britain. Labour is braced for a battering, at the hands of insurgent forces on every side. Birmingham is a microcosm of that picture: an unloved Labour administration dealing with complex problems and complex politics. But here it’s not just the Greens and Reform the party must contend with, but the rise of the so-called Gaza independents. A new political force appealing largely to British Muslims who, like everyone else, are disatissfied with the status quo. Is this really a new sectarian politics, as the newspapers suggest? And if it is - should we be concerned about who is propelling those forces? With the control of the biggest local authority in Europe up for grabs, Lewis has gone home to England’s second city to find out. #uk #ukpolitics #birmingham #keirstarmer #labour #labourparty #reformuk #nigelfarage #conservatives #kemibadenoch #localelections #localelections2026 #Podcast #UKPodcast #PoliticsPodcast #News #Politics #NewsAgents #EmilyMaitlis #JonSopel #LewisGoodall Download The News Agents with Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall from 5PM every weekday on Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/podcasts/42KuVj/ Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/@thenewsagents The News Agents website: https://www.thenewsagents.co.uk/ The News Agents is a Global Player Original podcast. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Connect with us on the Socials! Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/newsagents.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenewsagents/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thenewsagents Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenewsagentsofficial Twitter: https://x.com/TheNewsAgents Shop our merch: https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=TNA