Birmingham City Council is the largest local authority in Europe, in terms of the population it covers with 101 councillors representing 77 wards as of 2018.[100] Its headquarters are at the Council House in Victoria Square. As of 2018, the council has a Labour Party majority and is led by Ian Ward.[101] Labour replaced the previous no overall control status at the May 2012 elections.[102] The honour and dignity of a Lord Mayoralty was conferred on Birmingham by Letters Patent on 3 June 1896.[103]
Birmingham's ten parliamentary constituencies are represented in the House of Commons as of 2020 by two Conservative and eight Labour MPs.[104]
Originally part of Warwickshire, Birmingham expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, absorbing parts of Worcestershire to the south and Staffordshire to the north and west. The city absorbed Sutton Coldfield in 1974 and became a metropolitan borough in the new West Midlands county.[105] A top-level government body, the West Midlands Combined Authority, was formed in April 2016. The WMCA holds devolved powers in transport, development planning, and economic growth. The authority is governed by a directly elected mayor, similar to the Mayor of London.[106]