Labour’s ‘dead wood’ in fight for political life... against each other
treadmill in 2017, the party was supposed to sort itself out and use the time for a smooth selection process.
But if potential candidates were expecting a swift resolution this time they were mistaken.
There were hopes that the local branches would be in the midst of their selection meetings and votes around about now.
It has now become apparent that many selections will now not take place at least until April, or even after the mayoral election in May.
One reason given is that the regional party is now focused on defending the vulnerable Stoke-onTrent Central seat in the by-election which followed the resignation of MP Tristram Hunt.
Even the ‘mighty’ West Midlands Labour Party machine, having decamped to Hanley, seems incapable of concentrating on more than one thing at a time.
However, another great rumour doing the rounds is that the selections have been delayed to keep the Sword of Damocles hanging over members and councillors to ensure their compliance and whole-hearted efforts during the West Midlands Mayoral election campaign or even the re-selection of John Clancy as council leader.
With its relatively large membership, dominance of city politics and tendency towards factionalism, the Birmingham Labour Party is always susceptible to squabbling and in-fighting.
Of course, the powers-that-be could save themselves a headache if they just bite the bullet and just hold primary elections.
WITH 12 member councils, three local enterprise partnerships, police and fire authority figures and another six or seven councils applying to join, the combined authority board is growing at an exponential rate.
Each organisation sends two or three delegates so there could be literally dozens of people filling the room.
So it is surprising that a £100 million-plus investment project for Coventry had to be stalled because a recent meeting was not ‘quorate’.
The south city centre regeneration scheme came up near the end of the December meeting at which time most had got bored or had other places to be. So one of the first items on the agenda at last week’s January get-together was the final approval for the scheme.
Slick operation, this.
WE have five candidates (so far) intending to duke it out for the role of West Midlands Mayor. Conservative Andy Street has even given up his seven-figure salary as managing director of John Lewis to campaign for the job.
So it may come as a shock to them that the combined authority is not taking the appointment of the new figurehead for granted. It’s outline agenda for the May meeting, which is scheduled for the week following the mayoral election has the following item: ‘Membership update (if required)’.
It seems they are still unsure whether a mayor will be elected and appointed.
Reputations and long-service may count for nothing against the weight of new members wanting their own people in place
CONSERVATIVE candidate for mayor Andy Street has put it out that he wants the region to lead the way on driverless cars – by setting up a pilot or trial in the West Midlands. It makes sense as our industry, firms like Bosch and JLR, and universities are at the cutting edge of research and development of the revolutionary technology. But would Mr Street be stepping forward to use a driverless car in the real world? “I hope I’ll be with Bosch and JLR in the first car,” he said.