Birmingham’s very own Karl Marx tribute act Stewart Stacey was whistling the Red Flag as he strolled into Birmingham’s Cabinet office on Monday morning following the astonishing victory of Comrade Corbyn in the leadership ballot.
Mischievous , who funnily enough is the cabinet member in charge of privatisation and outsourcing (officially known as contracts and commissioning) loves to play up to his hard man of the left persona.
And, I am told, he went in to greet his more moderate cabinet colleagues, forged in the New Labour mould, by saying ‘we’ve had 30 years of your lot, now it’s our turn’.
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While the wider Labour Party has been bubbling on social media with the ins and outs of the leadership contest, Birmingham City Council’s Labour cabinet has generally remained aloof in public – but we can safely assume the majority, including leader Sir Albert Bore and deputy Ian Ward, are not drawn from the party's left.
And cabinet member for inclusion and community safety James McKay was uncharacteristically outspoken on twitter over Mr Corbyn’s first set of cabinet appointments: “Bloke. Bloke. Bloke. Bloke,” he said and before criticising the handling of the whole announcement.
And opposition Tory councillor tried to draw Coun Stacey out into the open asking whether he would be adopting the ‘outdated and prehistoric’ policies of Mr Corbyn in his commissioning role.
Coun Stacey replied that he rejected the premise of the question. But had already stated he expects to secure the best deal for the taxpayers and citizens of Birmingham, regardless of whether the service provider is in-house or outside. So there’s little sign of ideological dogma there.
It is difficult to see the elevation of Mr Corbyn having any significant impact on the operation and leadership of Birmingham City Council – it’s primary concern is still its dealings with Chancellor George Osborne and Communities Secretary Greg Clark. After all they hold the reigns of power.
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And it could be suggested that Sir Albert Bore and co have more to fear from him than they do from any Labour leader.
Like Corbyn, Sir Albert Bore also slipped up on his first cabinet
Birmingham’s Labour leader Sir Albert Bore may not thank me for reminding him of this - but he shares something in common with newly elected party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
While Sir Albert is very much on the moderate wing of the party and Corbyn is very much seen as a leftie – they both stumbled into an equality row within hours of appointing their top table.
Mr Corbyn has faced staunch criticism for failing to appoint a woman to one of the major cabinet positions – although he has got a decent share of ladies filling the wider cabinet roles.
after seizing control of Birmingham City Council announced a cabinet with just one woman, in charge of education and children’s services, and one member from a BAME background – transport and development chief Tahir Ali. The remainder was a line up of white men. Of course, in order to secure the support of their parties promises of future jobs have to be made and honoured – even though in public it is always claimed the best people get the jobs.
How hollow it made criticism of the previous Tory leader Mike Whitby who despite having very strong candidates like Deirdre Alden and Anne Underwood on the backbenches always gave men the nod when appointing his cabinet.
Labour has of course taken great strides in selecting women to winnable seats in the council, as well as in Parliament, and given the opportunity many have flourished – perhaps best known is Jess Phillips who went from newly elected councillor in 2012 to MP for Yardley this year.
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Sir Albert has also taken steps to redress this imbalance and . Not as a result of any tokenism, but because they have proved effective in other areas – who could argue against Paulette Hamilton, a nurse with senior union management experience, running the health portfolio?
Sir Albert, in the relative anonymity of council leadership was given time to rectify his oversight, but it is unlikely Mr Corbyn will be allowed the same.
Councillor's refugee speech reminds us it's not all partisan point scoring
It may be good fun for our politicians to indulge in a little partisan banter from time to time, and certainly Tory Gary Sambrook’s request to know Sir Albert Bore’s succession plan was enjoyably cheeky, as was Sir Albert’s put down reply that if he had a succession plan (he hasn’t), he wouldn’t be sharing it with young Gary.
But towards the end of the meeting we saw the other side of Birmingham’s premier debating chamber as they turned their attention to the Syrian refugee crisis - recognising that while they aren’t going to solve the conflict they can help some of the victims.
, who spoke movingly of the flight from persecution of her Iraqi Catholic relatives, was endorsed by many as one of the finest speeches they had seen in a long time.
There were some disagreements on detail, but no-one tried to make more of them, and in the end you left with the feeling that Birmingham City Council can do some good things when they put their minds to it.