Reaction to Birmingham hustings

birmingham-hustings-reaction

Rhi Storer - Local Democracy Reporter | Friday 26th August 2022 2:29pm

“Let’s keep the West Midlands blue,” declared Liz Truss at last night’s hustings in Birmingham, as the grind of the Conservative leadership race carries on. Without this reminder it would have been difficult to distinguish this event from previous iterations. 

Critics have argued the leadership race has gone on for far too long, but few here in the second city are likely to begrudge the fifteen minutes of fame for the West Midlands Conservatives. 

But Ms Truss and Rishi Sunak’s appearance here may not be quite a safe bet, party observers and insiders agree, with parliamentary seats such as West Bromwich East and Northfield hotly contested. The former has only a majority of 1,593 votes. If the Boundary Commission for England adds the Labour-supporting council ward of St Paul’s – an electorate of 10,534 – into the constituency next year, the Conservatives will have a big problem on their hands with the Black Country seat going into the next General Election.

And what did the candidates think of Birmingham, and the wider West Midlands? Aside from a few soundbites towards the Commonwealth Games; the ceramics industry; and bringing the gigabyte battery factories to the region, nothing else new was on offer. 

The hustings themselves had a lack of advertising throughout the labyrinth of the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), save the few ‘Liz 4 Leader’ and ‘Ready 4 Rishi’ banners outside for Conservative members. Placards from protestors with slogans such as ‘Nurses Not Nukes’ and ‘Kick The Tories Out’, faced incredulous looks from party members.

Sylvia Zamperini, originally from Italy, has lived in Britain for 28 years. All but two of those have been in Birmingham. Wearing an EU beret, she said whoever wins the leadership contest “would not give a damn” about crime in the region.

But Megan Jones, director at Cranstoun, an alcohol and drug reduction charity, said she was “really disappointed” at Mr Sunak’s comments. Sandwell has one of the lowest rates of drug-related deaths in the country. 

She added: “If soft on drugs means reducing harm to individuals and society, saving money, reducing demand to policing and the wider criminal justice system & reducing serious acquisitive crime – then sign me up to ‘soft on drugs’ approach.”

The loudest applause for the night went to Mr Sunak, but several councillors across the West Midlands were still divided.

Councillor Rick Payne, who represents Kingstanding, said: “Whilst Rishi has given a very good account of himself tonight, I was already thinking to vote for Liz. She’s given some clear examples of how she is going to do things. The way Rishi put it over is not necessarily as clear.”

But Councillor Richard Parkin, who represents Sutton Reddicap, said he would be voting for Sunak, adding: “I think he’s the only one with the most sensible plan. We’re about to go into a difficult winter,  the cost of living will bite deeper, and I see from my time volunteering at food banks, we need a leader who will have the sense to help those struggling.” 

More News Headlines