Conservative Group Leader on Birmingham City Council, Cllr Robert Alden, has publicly joined the call for Eurovision 2023 to come to Birmingham. With talks underway between the BBC and EBU about the UK stepping in to host the contest Cllr R Alden has said “Birmingham is proud to be a leading City of Sanctuary in the U.K and with thousands turning out to show their support for Ukraine in a vigil the people of Birmingham would welcome the opportunity to show solidarity with Ukraine and step in to be the host.
Brummies have been welcoming Ukrainians this year as part of the Homes for Ukrainians Scheme, with plans for up to 1000 to relocate here and it would be great to see all those who now call Birmingham home given free tickets. It also makes great sense as the City is well known for hosting large-scale international events and its position as Commonwealth Games hosts this year best places Birmingham has the frontrunner.”
Statement from the EBU
Shadow Cabinet Member for Culture, Cllr Darius Sandhu, added: “Birmingham has a proud and longstanding history of producing some world-class musicians, it would be great to see a Birmingham-based act represent us at the contest next year.”
You can sign a petition launched by CounterCut calling for the contest to come to Birmingham here.