Conservatives plan to ‘throw everything’ at mayoral election Party believes it can beat Labour in West Midlands

CONSERVATIVES are to send mailshots to a million households in the West Midlands as they battle to win the election for a regional mayor.

Plans are being drawn up in the belief that Theresa May’s Tories have a realistic chance of winning next May’s poll, even though Labour starts as favourite.

A Conservative source said: “The Conservative Party is going to be mailing a million people.

“This is one that the Conservative Party is going all out to win. They are throwing money, support and boots on the ground at us.”

Activists across the West Midlands are urged to join the campaign, he said, add- ing: “This It’s going ground.”

Charles Barwell, former president of the National Convention of the Conservative Party which represents party members, and Rachel Maclean, former Conservative candidate for Birmingham Northfield, are chairing the campaign.

Bookmakers Ladbrokes have Labour MEP Siôn Simon as the favourite to win, with odds of 4/6 on offer while the betting for Conservative candidate Andy Street, former managing director of John Lewis, is 5/4. Businesswoman Beverley Nielsen, the Liberal Democrat candidate, has odds of 50/1.

Mayoral elections are also due to be held in Manchester, Liverpool and Tees Valley but Labour is expected to win these easily. is a ground war like no other. to be done on boots on the

An analysis by think tank the Centre for Cities found that in the area electing a West Midlands mayor, Labour gained 42.5 per cent of the vote in the 2015 general election while the Conservatives gained 33.1 per cent.

But Ben Harrison, the Centre for Cities Director of Communications and Development, said: “Unlike those mayoral races in Manchester and Liverpool, the Conservatives could feasibly win in the West Midlands in 2017.

“Labour’s lead over the Conservatives in the region was less than ten points at the 2015 General Election, and in the year since, this gap could have narrowed even before local campaigning begins.”

Voters in Birmingham, Solihull, Coventry, Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell, Wolverhampton and Coventry will take part in the election.