Birmingham City Council’s deputy leader has described his leadership rivals as “novices” whose inexperience could lead the authority into the arms of Government intervention.

The attack from leader Ian Ward, which came on the day that seven councillors, including two cabinet members, announced support for rival John Clancy, will see the campaign move up a gear.

There are less than two weeks to go in the battle to fill the giant shoes of Sir Albert Bore as leader of the city council and the candidates have ramped up their efforts to win the support of the 78 Labour councillors.

Coun Ward (Shard End) declared he was best placed to steer the council through its current crisis and away from government intervention.

His campaign now echoes the successful Conservative election tactic of painting the Labour opposition as too risky to trust with the economy.

He said: “This is the largest, most difficult, most pressured elected role in local government. This is not the time for a novice who doesn’t know how to run the council. This isn’t Who Wants to be a Millionaire? – you can’t phone a friend when things get tough.”

It will be seen as a criticism of cabinet rival Penny Holbrook who, in a message to colleagues, talked of needing the support of others to do the job.

He said: “We need a leader with the experience, the knowledge and the skill to sort these problems out. I’ve been elected Labour group deputy leader for ten years. I am the only one with that experience.”

Coun Ward pointed out that rival Coun Clancy wanted a short-cut to leadership and had not even run a backbench committee.

“If this was a job, I would be the only one to get an interview,” he told the Post. “The city is too important to hand over to novices and inexperience at this time. I meet the improvement panel, I know what needs to be done.”

One such move, he said, was that Birmingham needed to play its part in pushing the combined authority project through to deliver infrastructure and jobs for Birmingham.

Clockwise from top left: Councillors John Clancy, Ian Ward, Mike Leddy, Barry Henley and Penny Holbrook
Clockwise from top left: Councillors John Clancy, Ian Ward, Mike Leddy, Barry Henley and Penny Holbrook

He said he had also been talking to the chamber of commerce about what both the council and combined authority could do to help firms pay the living wage.

Meanwhile, Coun Holbrook has been making a series of policy declarations and inviting questions on her website.

She said housing was a priority and that the council could intervene in the sector to improve the lives of citizens.

Coun Clancy, thought by some to be the front-runner in the race, refused to comment on rivals’ campaigns, but a councillor backing him said “the only experience Ian has is running the council badly”.

Instead Coun Clancy (Quinton) left it to others to bolster his campaign with a well-orchestrated string of endorsements on social media.

But while most of those publicly backing him were long-term supporters, the two cabinet members who came to his side, Tahir Ali and Shafique Shah, were likely to have previously supported Sir Albert Bore.

In his endorsement, Coun Tony Kennedy (Sparkbrook) said the city needed a wholesale change of leadership.

Also in the running are former Lord Mayor Mike Leddy and councillor Barry Henley.

The leadership election is on Monday, November 23.