West Midlands mayor ditches party branding for campaign

The West Midlands mayor has said it is “utterly deliberate” to exclude reference to the Conservatives from his campaign material, as he believes “people are sick and tired of Westminster”.

Andy Street is hoping to be elected to a third term in office in May’s election in a vote that could be the strongest indicator yet as to how the two main parties will perform at the impending general election.

The former John Lewis boss has been criticised for largely excluding reference to the Conservative party from his social media accounts and campaign literature, and has frequently described himself as more of a businessman than a politician.

“It is utterly deliberate to position it as an individual ‘brand Andy’ campaign,” he said. “Because that’s what it is. That’s always how it has been right back to 2017 …

“This is a different type of political role and the country is getting used to this, because historically, it’s all been Westminster. People are sick and tired of that.”

He insisted he was still a staunch supporter of his party but had stood up to the government when it made decisions he did not agree with – although he stopped short of resigning his membership when the government scrapped the second leg of HS2 which runs through Birmingham.

“I am a proud Conservative but that is totally different to ‘Do I agree with this Conservative government in everything it’s doing?’” he said.

Street, who previously won in 2017 and 2021, is going up against Labour’s Richard Parker. This time, though, he is working against a backdrop of polls showing tanking support for his party and a potential Labour landslide at the general election.

A recent poll by the consulting firm Redfield & Wilton Strategies put Parker ahead with 42% of the vote, and Street trailing behind on 28%.

His offer to the voters of the West Midlands includes increasing social housebuilding to 1,700 a year by 2028 and creating more than 400,000 jobs and training opportunities to help the region’s economic growth overtake London by 2030.

He also wants to bring the 2027 Invictus Games to the region, turn a Digbeth viaduct into a “skypark” and create a global tech festival inspired by SXSW in Texas.

But he has faced criticism over the slow pace. He has advocated a bold vision for a transformed public transport network but since taking office, just four new tram stops have been completed and a new rail line, which Street previously promised would be in operation by the election, is almost a year behind schedule.

Ultimately, he said, he has successfully championed the region and he claims to have been working furiously behind the scenes to ensure Birmingham city council’s bankruptcy does not damage the West Midlands’ reputation.

A recent poll by the thinktank Centre for Cities found that 89% of voters could not name a single one of the West Midlands mayor’s polices, much higher than in Greater Manchester, where that figure stood at 68%.

But it also found 53% of voters said they would vote in the West Midlands mayoral election based on the candidate rather than political party.