Andy Street’s West Midlands defeat shows the
heavy baggage of brand Tory
Jessica
Murray
Running as a ‘pseudo-independent’ in a region in which
Labour faced its own hurdles was not enough to keep Tory mayor in office
Sat 4 May
2024 22.10 BST
After a
nail-biting finale, Andy Street has become the most high-profile victim of
tanking Tory support in May’s elections.
With the
Conservatives shedding seats across the country on Friday, all eyes were on the
West Midlands on Saturday to see if he could cling on by sheer will of
personality – or “Brand Andy” as he calls it.
In the end,
it wasn’t enough and Labour inched ahead with just over 1,500 more votes, in
what was seen as a shock result. Just a day earlier sources in the party had
been briefing that they expected to lose.
The region
provided an interesting backdrop, with multiple complex issues playing out
throughout the campaign, making it particularly hard to predict.
For one,
there was Labour’s stance on Gaza and the growing evidence that Muslim voters
have turned away from the party as a result.
The West
Midlands has a higher than average Muslim population, particularly in
Birmingham, where it stands at 30% according to the 2021 census.
Labour
sources were quick to blame their anticipated loss on the Gaza issue in the day
before the result, saying if Street won it was down to that.
It did
appear the party lost votes in Birmingham to the independent candidate Akhmed
Yakoob, who came third with almost 20% of the vote share.
His
campaign focused heavily on Gaza, and he was seen campaigning with George
Galloway shortly before polling day.
There was
also the issue of Labour-led Birmingham city council going bust last year, and
recently announcing a 21% hike in council tax rates, alongside a swathe of
cuts.
Labour had
insisted this was not expected to affect the mayoral result, and that there was
much more anger towards the Conservative government after a decade of
austerity.
It’s no
surprise that Street worked hard to distance himself from the Conservative
party more broadly, and the scandals and turmoil that have led to its waning
support in recent months.
The former
John Lewis boss has always positioned himself as more of a businessman than a
politician, and has long avoided embroiling himself in political debates,
sticking solely to West Midlands issues.
You would
struggle to find many references to his political party in any of his campaign
material and he openly stated he was focusing on “Brand Andy” as he believed it
was “a very personal election about choosing one person to lead a region”.
The tactic
paid off for Ben Houchen in Tees Valley, where Labour said they were up against
a “pseudo-independent” candidate, but wasn’t enough for Street to secure his
third term in office.
By
comparison, Labour’s candidate, Richard Parker, was probably hoping his party
would pull him through. He is relatively unknown, a management consultant with
no prior experience in frontline politics.
In one
hustings event leading up to the vote, he was asked: “No one has heard of you,
is that the best Labour can do?”
But after
unseating someone like Street, he is likely to become a much more recognisable
name.
A win like
this in the West Midlands, brimming with Labour target seats, will leave the
party buoyant heading into the general election – and the Conservatives worried
that even big personalities like Street can’t hold out in the current political
climate.
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