Labour:We’re not taking victory at polls for granted

THE national pollsters and experts are in Labour’s favour; locally and the Boris Johnson factor is currently so toxic that the Conservative group leader, Robert Alden, can barely speak his name.

So will it be a walkover for the man leading Birmingham’s Labour charge – city council leader Ian Ward?

Not necessarily. Local elections are notoriously unpredictable and Birmingham Labour does not have resounding support locally, even among their own members, with candidate selection in some wards coming under fire.

Ward says his candidates will be fighting hard for every seat, and taking nothing for granted. Victory is not presumed.

But a 60-page Labour manifesto which sets out a plan that would depend on the party still being in charge in 2032 speaks volumes.

Ward promises a better future ahead out of hardship – a ‘golden decade’ no less.

It’s the Commonwealth Games this summer that will mark the start of this golden age. Despite having to dig millions of pounds deeper into the local coffers than he ever said he would, including extra revenue funds that were deemed untouchable, Ward insists the Commonwealth Games is still a brilliant deal and a boon for the city.

“I can’t think of anything else we could have done that would have brought the kind of investment from the Government into the city that has come from it, certainly not during the period of austerity. All of this investment would have gone to another city if we had not successfully bid for the Games – so I think it was absolutely the right decision to do it.”