The Chamberlain News

2015: Top Ten Stories of the Year

As our review of the year highlighted, 2015 on the Chamberlain News was dominated by the ongoing impact of the Kerslake Review and the resignation of the Council leader ten months later. Here, we countdown the top ten stories of the year.

10: Paul Dale’s verdict on the hustings event we staged with the Birmingham Post and Birmingham Mail for the council leadership.

9: Ian Ward’s comments on the council leadership situation following James McKay’s cabinet resignation – all the way from an airport in Crete. Bore resigned less than 48 hours later.

8: James McKay quits Cabinet, sparking the beginning of the end of Bore’s stranglehold on the Labour leadership.

7: Kerslake Report takes hold as boundary changes announced and improvement panel named.

6: Next step of the Bore crisis as group secretary quits.

5: Our strongly worded editorial on the ‘almost’ decision that a public debate for the leadership contenders was not really necessary. It really was and co-ordinated pressure from the publisher of this blog and that of the Post & Mail managed to shine some light onto proceedings.

4: John Clancy wins. Just.

3: Paul Dale’s post making clear just how near the council was to being taken over by Government-appointed commissioners following a ‘must do better’ letter from the improvement panel.

2: Our leadership poll, attracting more votes than the actual contest.

1: Sir Albert Bore resigns.

If you haven’t caught up, you can read our review of the year – in three parts covering events at Birmingham city Council, devolution progress and Birmingham’s economic boom – as well as our two-part political awards (which frankly aren’t worth the paper they are not written on). 

Tomorrow: part two of our exclusive interview with new council leader John Clancy.