Why Boris must take levelling-up to the next level
LOCAL elections rarely tend to be plain sailing for sitting Governments. It’s fair to say nationally we have faced turbulence of late by way of errors both forced – think globally swirling energy prices – and unforced – think the furore around parties in Downing Street.
In that context, last week’s local election results provide food for thought. In thewest Midlands the results held up, even registering the occasional gain in places.
They prove that voters are adept at distinguishing between dissatisfaction felt towards national actors and diligent grassroots councillors.
And they confirm there’s no better recipe for electoral success than building trust through delivery on the ground.
Thewest Midlands is finely balanced politically. Our region has 28 MPS, 14 Labour and 14 Conservative. Of the local authorities whose leaders form thewest Midlands Combined Authority board, which I chair, four are Labour (Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Birmingham and Coventry) and three are Conservative (Walsall, Dudley and Solihull).
These elections did not alter the arithmetic, although there was voter apathy within our base – if not outright vote switching. Post local elections, how do we best steady the ship and advance? I suggest three key ingredients.
First, we should recognise the rationale underpinning the green agenda. Here in the West Midlands we have committed to becoming a net zero region by 2041.
Before readers roll their eyes and label me a tree hugger, remember this is about pounds, shillings and pence as much as environmentalism.
The long-term solution to cost-of-living pressures lies in initiatives like retrofitting homes which will cut household bills.the well-paid, high-skill jobs of the future will be found in fast-growing sectors like green manufacturing.
The political case is clear. Geopolitics has spurred us to bolster our energy security and a recent Onward report suggested we could lose 1.3 million “green voters” if the Government abandons net zero.
Look at the Conservative-led Solihull Council – where the Green Party are the official opposition – to see that green-minded voters are an important segment of our base.
Second, let’s double down on levelling-up. Our electoral resilience in thewest Midlands shows the agenda has borne fruit.withtrailblazer Devolution Deal conversations underway, I encourage the Government to be bold in its Levelling Up Bill to be unveiled inthe Queen’s Speech.
From transport to housing, skills to regeneration, we have already drawn in unprecedented investment.
In terms of transport, we are working on new stations and rolling out zero emissions buses.
We have doubled house-building pre-pandemic and cleaned up eyesore sites, transforming them into new communities and job opportunities for local people.
This includes iconic Longbridge – the long shuttered car manufacturing plant now being entirely regenerated.
We’re training our workforce and improving qualifications through programmes enabled by the devolution of the Adult Education Budget.whether it’s £1billion of town centre investment in Dudley, pioneering homelessness reduction in Walsall or rapidly issuing rebates to help with energy costs in Solihull, we make the levelling-up slogan meaningful.
Boris: take levelling-up to the next level. It will deliver electoral dividends and is the right thing to do.
Third, leadership matters.trust in politicians feels at quite a low ebb currently.when the bond of trust with the public is frayed, we must work hard to repair that and focus on delivering for the country.the week’s local election results show a measure of resilience and certainly don’t demonstrate an outpouring of affection for Labour – so let’s get on with the job. If we deliver, the voters will reward us.
‘We must work to repair bond of trust ...let’s get on with the job’