West Midlands Mayor front-runners face off in Birmingham hustings

The two leading candidates in the West Midlands mayoral election, Conservative incumbent Andy Street and Labour hopeful Richard Parker, participated in a hustings in Birmingham on 15 April.

The election is widely seen as closely contested, and will take place on 2 May in tandem with other mayoral races nationwide, alongside elections for local councils and Police and Crime Commissioners.

Recent polling by Redfield and Wilton Strategies gave Parker a 14% lead over Street for voting intention, but found that a plurality of voters (49%) were unfamiliar with the Labour candidate’s campaign. A separate poll by Savanta gave a significantly closer result, with him leading Street by just 3%. Street’s team has continued to assert that support for their candidate as an individual – dubbed ‘Brand Andy’ – will grant him victory, albeit narrowly.

Whoever is elected will lead the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), which encompasses seven regions including the Birmingham, Coventry, and Wolverhampton City Councils. They will have powers relating to policy areas such as transportation and housing.

The conversation between Street and Parker was heated at times, with statements by both candidates frequently receiving applause from a packed audience

Taking place on 15 April in Birmingham’s Hockley Social Club, the hustings was hosted by Lewis Goodall, a presenter for LBC and co-host of The News Agents, a current-affairs-themed podcast.

The conversation between Street and Parker was heated at times, with statements by both candidates frequently receiving applause from a packed audience comprising members of the public. Quips by Goodall received laughter on multiple occasions.

Most questions to the candidates were asked by audience members, with some being put forward by Goodall.

In his opening statement, Parker, a former partner at accountancy firm PwC, emphasised the role he played in ‘creating’ the West Midlands Combined Authority. He noted that he had lived in the West Midlands his entire life, highlighting pledges to create 150,000 jobs, “revitalise high streets”, and introduce ‘bus franchising’. Parker argued the region needed a “fresh start”, suggesting Street was presiding over economic stagnation, “skills shortages”, and high levels of youth unemployment.

Street placed a protracted emphasis on “sound financial management,” arguing he had a “proven record” in this regard

Street, who was first elected as the WMCA’s mayor in 2017, suggested the region has “come a long way in the last seven years”. Showcasing a pledge to create 425,000 jobs, Street posited he had overseen “incredible inward investment” in the region throughout his time as mayor, and that the West Midlands featured “the best-trained workforce we’ve ever had”.

Throughout the debate, Street placed a protracted emphasis on “sound financial management,” arguing he had a “proven record” in this regard. He consistently suggested the opposite was true for Parker and the Labour Party, claiming Parker had failed to explain how he would finance his proposal for ‘bus franchising’. A policy already implemented in the Greater London, Greater Manchester, and West Yorkshire Combined Authorities, it would allow the WMCA mayor to control routes, fares, and standards for buses in the region. The Conservative Party estimates it would cost “at least £140 million” to implement.

Parker retorted by arguing that the current quality of bus services prevents young people from accessing job opportunities, and significantly limits the mobility of West Midlands residents. He stressed that bus franchising would alleviate this.

Street also pressed Parker on the financial difficulties currently being experienced by Birmingham City Council. In September 2023, the Council issued a section 114 notice, meaning it is unable to meet its obligation to maintain a balanced budget and is therefore “effectively bankrupt”. Street contrasted the Council’s record with his performance as Mayor, claiming the WMCA has consistently maintained balanced budgets even in the absence of a regionwide tax. He accused Parker of “supporting the very people who have put Birmingham in this position”, stating that those in charge of the Council “must be held accountable”.

Street boasted that the West Midlands had been the only region in the UK to meet regional housebuilding targets

Parker responded to Street’s attacks by arguing the Council’s financial difficulties are partially attributable to funding cuts, purporting that Westminster has “outsourced austerity to local governments”. Central government grants to local authorities have fallen by 21% in real terms since 2009/2010, with both Conservative- and Labour-controlled councils across the country having issued section 114 notices, and half of councils warning they are likely to do so in the next five years. However, Parker did not deny that the situation was partially a product of the City Council’s “incompetence,” although he suggested that he did not have enough information to fully determine the causes of Birmingham’s troubles. He tied the precarious position of local government finances nationwide to what he perceived as the economic failings of Britain’s Conservative government, exclaiming: “The Conservatives crashed the economy, folks!”

A major point of contention was housing policy. Street boasted that the West Midlands had been the only region in the UK to meet regional housebuilding targets, and committed to tripling social housebuilding to 1,700 homes a year were he to be re-elected, alongside maintaining funding for other forms of housing.

Parker questioned just how much of housebuilding in the West Midlands was attributable to Street. He also pointed out a “criminal” undersupply of social housing during Street’s tenure as mayor, alleging that he had not utilised “70% of housing resources” at his disposal.

Street responded by arguing the primary responsibility for social housebuilding lay with local authorities – not the WMCA. He attacked the Labour-controlled Birmingham City Council, which he suggested is set to stop building social housing due to its financial troubles.

One person asked Street whether he was “embarrassed at asking people to vote Tory”

Audience members grilled him on his ties to the Conservative Party, with one person asking Street whether he was “embarrassed at asking people to vote Tory”. Street responded that the mayoral election was “about choosing an individual,” claiming that his “only loyalty was to people in this region”. He suggested he had explicitly disagreed with the central government on issues such as the cancellation of the HS2 link from Birmingham to Manchester. That being said, he praised the Conservative government in certain respects, commending its record on devolution and applauding Michael Gove – Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities – for putting “significant cash on the table” as part of devolution deals between the central government and WMCA.

Street previously endorsed former Prime Minister Liz Truss during the 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. When questioned by an audience member about whether he thought he had made the right decision, Street stated: “Liz Truss demonstrated that she did not have the skills to be Prime Minister.” However, he argued that aspects of what she said during the leadership election campaign were “right”.

Parker noted Street has “done his best, but he’s going to lose”

Despite speculation that Street would resign from the Conservative Party following the government’s cancellation of the HS2 Birmingham-Manchester link last year, he ultimately did not do so. When quizzed about this, Street defended his decision, stating that had he resigned, this would have precluded him from negotiating “better deals” with the central government for the West Midlands. He argued that a rail link could be formed between Birmingham and Manchester through a combination of public and private financing. Parker lambasted the idea, noting it was “preposterous” that private companies would purchase land to build rail lines unless such an endeavour was underwritten by the government. He accused that Street “threw tantrums in front of the Prime Minister and came back empty-handed”. However, Parker himself did not commit to supporting a revival of the HS2 Birmingham-Manchester link, suggesting that whether such an endeavour was viable depended on the health of the economy and public finances.

Other topics of discussion during the hustings included the candidates’ approaches to augmenting Birmingham’s global reputation, the need to improve social cohesion, and crime policy.

The hustings concluded with Goodall asking both candidates to state one thing each candidate liked about the other. Parker noted Street has “done his best, but he’s going to lose”, whilst Street praised Parker because “he is not a career politician”.