Springsteen, Villa and cricket - full list of Birmingham City Councillors' freebies

There's been a lot of focus on the freebies given to the Prime Minister and MPs - we looked at what local politicians were declaring closer to home

Tickets for the iconic Bruce Springsteen gig at Villa Park, VIP seats for the cricket, free entry to gigs, night clubs, the theatre and the ballet, plush dinners and the occasional foreign trip - being a city councillor comes with some perks.

In the wake of a recent furore around the freebies given to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and MPs on all sides of the House of Commons, we delved into the gift register held by Birmingham City Council. It's a statutory list that councillors are required to update every time they are given a 'freebie' off the back of their status.

Councillors are legally obliged to complete entries within a month of receipt. It's meant to ensure that there is visibility of what might otherwise look like 'undue influence' or potential conflicts of interest.

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Out of 101 councillors, only 50 of the current bunch have made any gift register entries in recent years. We have restricted our list below to those who declared any gifts from January 2023 to the present day. As you'd expect, some councillors attended events directly linked to their duties as a council representative - for example, the recent launch of a new community hub by the Birmingham City FC Foundation.

We found some councillors are definitely more 'gifted' than others. Former council leader Ian Ward, who became an ordinary backbencher last May, was one of the most prolific freebie recipients during his leadership. New council leader John Cotton and deputy leader Sharon Thompson have also enjoyed more gifts than the majority of backbenchers.

The councillors who have held the 'culture' brief in 2023 and 2024, Cllr Jayne Francis and, now, Cllr Saima Suleman, have enjoyed more visits to cultural attractions than most. Conservative councillor Gareth Moore declared multiple free visits to The Nightingale Club in the city's Gay Village, while he was one of several councillors to receive free VIP tickets for Birmingham Pride. Tickets to cricket matches hosted at Edgbaston Stadium were also popular.

Freebies and gifts registered in 2023 and 2024

Cllr Deirdre Alden (Cons, Edgbaston) - her listed freebies included attending Birmingham Phoenix game and two T20s events at Edgbaston, honorary membership for 2023 and 2024 for her and her family to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, and a £50 giftcard and plant from 'a grateful constituent'. She was also a guest of the Midlands Antiques Society for a dinner.

Cllr Robert Alden(Cons, Erdington) - he enjoyed the Erdington Rugby Club 100th anniversary dinner, attended the This Town premiere courtesy of the BBC, watched the British Squash finals and indoor athletics, and attended the Westside BID annual awards and the University of Birmingham's Vice Chancellor's dinner.

He also enjoyed cricket at Edgbaston, a squash finals, badminton, the world indoor tour final and two meals courtesy of Aston University.

Cllr Shabina Bano (Lib Dems, Small Heath) attended the launch event of Birmingham City Foundation's community hub and dinner, which was worth approximately £240.

Cllr Martin Brooks (Lab, Harborne) - attended as a guest of Westside Bid a dinner for Labour First, valued at around £100

Cllr John Cotton (Lab, Glebe Farm and Tile Cross) - As council leader Mr Cotton is more in demand than most and has accepted invites to a range of dinners and events. These include free tickets to see Hamilton, courtesy of Birmingham Hippodrome; a visit to see Wicked the musical; watching a Villa match with dinner; enjoying the T20 cricket finals at Edgbaston; and a trip to the Birmingham Royal Ballet.

He also attended dinners paid for by law firm Shakespeare Martineau, service provider Pinnacle Group, management consultants Curating Connections, West Midlands Growth Company, PHTA Ltd, Apsley House Capital, Pinnacle Housing Group, Beartas and the University of Birmingham. He attended a Core Cities meeting with dinner, enjoyed dinner and a gift of a book from the Nishkam Centre and attended Birmingham Pride.

Cllr Diane Donaldson (Lab, Bromford and Hodge Hill) - she declared a VIP pass to Big Johns Mela

Cllr Sam Forsyth (Lab, Quinton) - declared that she was a last-minute 'stand in' for an Aston University dinner, valued at £100, and attended a badminton finals with dinner.

Cllr Jayne Francis (Lab, Harborne) - she declared a list of gifts. These included a dinner hosted by Aston University and dinners funded by the firms Equans, a council housing repairs contractor, Lovell's law firm, Midland Heart, Moda Living and Westside BID. She was funded by Campbell Tickell to attend a housing conference valued at £330. She attended The James in Liverpool with dinner funded by Hera Communications.

She has attended a range of events, including several shows at Birmingham Hippodrome and the Rep, a Peaky Blinders event at the Black Country Living Museum, the Still Life ballet and badminton finals with dinner.

Cllr Ray Goodwin (Lab, Castle Vale) - a visit to Edgbaston for cricket, a Labour First dinner and a dinner and drinks at the BCFC Foundation launch event were on his gifts register.

Cllr Fred Grindrod (Lab, Bournville and Cotteridge) - attended a Labour First fundraising dinner in 2023 and the T20 finals at Edgbaston in 2024.

Cllr Roger Harmer (Lib Dems, Acocks Green) - attended the launch of the BCFC Foundation, with dinner.

Cllr Mumtaz Hussain (Lib Dems, Aston) - she received free Villa tickets and noted she accepted as she is a local councillor who supports sports, and 'had not been to a football match before.’

Cllr Izzy Knowles (Lib Dems, Moseley) - she accepted three weekend tickets to Moseley Festival, but added that while there she volunteered with Moseley community development trust.

Cllr Mary Locke (Lab, Stirchley) - Tickets for the Moseley Folk Festival and an annual meeting and pre-dinner at the MAC, where she is a council board member.

Cllr Ewan Mackey (Cons, Sutton Roughley) - music lover Cllr Mackey, deputy leader of the city's Conservatives group, made 14 gift declarations covering the two years, all for free tickets to events hosted B: Music/Symphony Hall.

Cllr Basharat Mahmood (Lab, Pype Hayes) - he claimed a seat at a Labour First fundraiser, with Westside Birmingham footing the bill.

Cllr Majid Mahmood (Lab, Bromford and Hodge Hill) - apparently a cricket fan, he has visited Edgbaston several times through 2023 and 2024. This included three free VIP visits to watch the T20 finals this year and four Hundred games. He also flew to Ireland to visit Romaquip UK, a recycling vehicle firm, with flights, meals and accommodation for one night. Cllr Mahmood is cabinet member for waste and park services, transport and highways.

Cllr Karen McCarthy (Lab, Bournbrook and Selly Park) - two tickets to Swan Lake in February 2023 at Birmingham Royal Ballet. Cllr McCarthy is Cabinet member for finance.

Cllr Gareth Moore (Cons, Erdington) - he regularly declares gifts, most of them courtesy of those who run Birmingham Pride and the Nightingale Club in the Gay Village. In both 2023 and 2024, he declared receiving a batch of free VIP Pride tickets and drinks worth £1,700 (2024) and £1,232 (2023) for him and his friends. Over the course of 2023 and 2024, he also listed receiving multiple free tickets to the Nightingale, usually with free drinks, on six occasions. He estimates the value of his Nightingale visits at £870. He also declared a free dinner at Erdington Rugby Club's 100th anniversary celebration, value £100, and attended a VIP reception for Chinese new year via Southside Bid. He also visited the IBSA World Games, enjoing free entry and a VIP reception.

Cllr David Pears (Cons, Sutton Trinity) - He accepted VIP tickets and drinks to an evening of panto at Sutton Town Hall, supporting Sutton Town Hall Trust.

Cllr Esther Rai (Lab, Northfield) - She registered a gift given to her when she was successfully elected as a city councillor earlier this year, worth around £20. She says of the peace lily and box of chocolates she received that she didn't like to refuse as ‘I didn’t want to seem rude’.

Cllr Darius Sandhu (Cons, Oscott) - He registered for one free ticket to watch the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra earlier this year.

Cllr Saima Suleman (Lab, Hall Green North) - Now the cabinet member for digital and cultural affairs, Cllr Suleman has accepted free tickets this year to watch the Birmingham Royal Ballet's Night at the Museum, Jack and the Beanstalk at The Hippodrome and the Rothesay Classic tennis. In 2023, her freebies were trips to see The Nutcracker and the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Lion King.

Cllr Sharon Thompson (Lab, North Edgbaston) - Previously cabinet member with a focus on housing and homelessness, Cllr Thompson is now deputy leader of the council. Her register includes two events in 2024 - a free ticket to an awards dinner hosted by local charity Steps to Work, worth £75, and a guest invite to the British basketball league trophy finals, worth £100.

In 2023 Cllr Thompson enjoyed trips to the Hippodrome and The Rep to watch The Nutcracker and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, combined value £160. She attended dinners hosted by leadership recruitment agency Saxton Bampfylde and Aspley House Capital, watched cricket at Edgbaston and received three free VIP tickets to Birmingham Pride. She was given two free tickets to watch legendary Bruce Springsteen at Villa Park. She also received a piece of artwork from Precision Imaging. On another occasion she attended a dinner hosted by Aston University.

Cllr Paul Tilsley (Lib Dems, Sheldon) Cllr Tilsley makes two entries for the two years, both linked to his role as city council-nominated director of Birmingham Airport - one for a dinner, the other linked to a board awayday at Hampton Manor Hotel including lunch and dinner.

Cllr Ian Ward (Lab, Shard End) - In the year before our focus, 2022, Cllr Ward was leader of the council and enjoyed outings to watch football at Birmingham City, rugby at Twickenham, dinner and lunch at The Ivy, and sporting events around the country. He enjoyed a five-day trip to Dubai with the West Midlands Growth Company, while he spent five days at MIPIM Asia, a property conference. The entry for the value of each of these trips estimates them only as ‘over £25’ each. It's a catch all entry that the council's monitoring officer appears to have accepted, despite it clearly failing to give a realistic value.

At the start of 2023, Cllr Ward was still the leader of the council, and his gift register entries reflect that. In January, he enjoyed dinner courtesy of James Wong, city restaurateur, and was also treated to dinners out by the West Midlands Growth Company and South City College. He watched Birmingham City play Preston as a guest and enjoyed the British basketball championships, all for free. In February and March 2023, freebies that went his way included a trip to the racing festival at Cheltenham, courtesy of Court Collaboration, a city centre property developer. He was also hosted by Birmingham City FC on a golf day, and had dinners funded by Westside BID, the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce, Red Bull and the University of Birmingham.

In April, while his position as leader was under scrutiny, he found solace in sport, receiving free tickets to watch Birmingham City FC, the snooker world championships and the British Squash finals. He attended the St George for England ball and the Commonwealth Games Federation sports industry awards.

Following a Labour party coup, he became a backbencher in May 2023. His freebies have reduced, but in the months since he has been treated to a free ticket to an awards dinner hosted by local firm Technology Supply Chain, VIP tickets to two cricket matches at Edgbaston, worth around £750, funded by Intercity, and a VIP trip to a Birmingham City match courtesy of Shirley based firm Technolink.

Cllr Alex Yip (Cons, Sutton Wylde Green) - Cllr Yip has a solitary entry of a dinner as guest of the Birmingham Chinatown Business Association, value £80, to mark its inaugural launch and the renaming of Birmingham Chinatown.

If your local councillor is not listed, that is because they have not made any gifts declarations in 2023 and 2024.