The West Midlands mayor, Andy Street, has said it is “utterly deliberate” to exclude reference to the Conservative party from his campaign material, as he believes he is fighting an individual campaign and “people are sick and tired of Westminster”.
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. Because that’s what it is,” he said. “That’s always how it has been right back to 2017, the branding was green and it was all about ‘brand Andy’.
“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 stopped short of resigning his membership when the government scrapped the second leg of HS2, which runs through Birmingham.
Street said: “I am a proud Conservative but that is totally different to ‘do I agree with this Conservative government in everything it’s doing?’”
Street, who previously won in 2017 and 2021, is going up against Labour’s Richard Parker. This time, however, he is working against a backdrop of polls showing tanking support for his party and a potential Labour landslide victory at the next 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%.
Does he worry he could be one of the first casualties of declining Tory support? “No, it doesn’t feel any different to seven years ago or three years ago, because I see this as a very personal election about choosing one person to lead a region,” he said. “This is not about a slate for one party.”
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 of delivery. 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 said would be in operation by the election, is almost a year behind schedule.
He said: “I do get that people are frustrated that some of the works are taking a little longer, and there’s disruption while it happens. But it’s all because we are finally investing literally hundreds of millions of pounds a year in this.”
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 doesn’t damage the West Midlands’ reputation. But it is not the responsibility of government to bail them out, he added.
“If you start doing that, where is the discipline? I know it’s agony for citizens in Birmingham, but you have to get the council to get itself back on to a sound financial footing,” he said.
A recent poll by the thinktank Centre for Cities found that 89% of voters couldn’t name a single one of the West Midlands mayor’s polices, much higher than in Manchester where that figure stood at 68%.
But it also found that 53% of voters said they would vote in the West Midlands mayoral election based on the candidate rather than the political party.
This was echoed by some voters shopping on Birmingham’s New Street on Monday. Mike and Jenny Brownridge, from Brownhills in Walsall, said they were usually Conservative voters but would not be voting for the party again – apart from Street, that is.
“I used to be a Conservative voter, but not this time. I think the latest lot are idiots. I’ve got no faith in any of the politicians, other than Andy Street basically,” said Mike.
“I like the fact he’s got a business background, which unfortunately lots of politicians haven’t. I think he’s very aware, dynamic, he gets things done. We’re keen. How I vote locally is different to how I vote nationally.”
Jenny added: “We think he’s done quite a lot for the area.”
But for others, it was difficult to forget the party that Street stands for. Bevleen Sira, 40, who was shopping with her husband, Gavinder Sira, said: “The Conservatives have been in charge now for X amount of years, and what’s happened? Things like the NHS, which is in a sorry state of affairs, the party have been responsible for.”
She said although Street seemed more “middle ground” than other Conservatives and may appeal to a wider base of voters, the national trend was moving against the party. “I think they have nothing to offer,” said Gavinder.
Bevleen added: “[Street] is always in the local papers advocating for local businesses or improvements in infrastructure, and that’s great. But I feel like, overall, with people who were traditionally Conservative, we might see some change this time around.”
