Ahead of the West Midlands Mayoral Election in May, Laura Griffiths writes about Labour's candidate and Birmingham MP Liam Byrne
After a long drawn out contest, Labour members in the West Midlands have finally selected their candidate for the West Midlands Mayoral election. By a preferential system similar to the one used to determine the Mayoralty on May 7th, Liam Byrne was selected by Labour members across the West Midlands on second preferences.
With this selection potentially forecasting how the Labour leadership could fall in two months’ time, Byrne’s competition included Pete Lowe, the former Vice Chair of combined West Midlands authority and former leader of Dudley and Salma Yaqoob, the most contentious candidate of the three as former leader of the Respect Party and independent Parliamentary candidate against Labour MP Naz Shah.
So who is Liam Byrne and what does he stand for?
Labour MP for Hodge Hill since a by-election in 2004, Liam was the most widely known candidate vying to be Labour’s West Midlands Mayoral candidate. Endorsed by the likes of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP and early Labour leadership candidate Jess Phillips MP, Mr Byrne had the most trade unions and affiliate organisations supporting him in his candidacy.
The most politically experienced candidate in the field for Labour, Byrne currently holds the role of shadow Digital Minister and has served under four Labour leaders – Corbyn, Miliband, Brown and Blair. Famously departing his ministerial role as Chief Secretary to the Treasury with the ‘no money note’ in 2010, Byrne was the first Minister for the West Midlands under Gordon Brown’s premiership.
Given his role as Member of Parliament, Liam does have the opportunity to ask questions about funding in relation to house building in the West Midlands region to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in a way his potential counterpart Mayor of the Sheffield City Region and Barnsley MP Dan Jarvis also does.
Leading with a manifesto of “radical compassion”, elements of his manifesto transfer from different wings of the party such as the ‘Green New Deal’ under Jeremy Corbyn, or his commitment to ending homelessness, a problem that was greatly improved under the years of Blair but has now become a rapidly escalating issue across the West Midlands authority once more. When it comes to homelessness, there is a personal element to this as well – many people who are homeless or at risk of this status have additional complex needs such as alcoholism, which his father died from, or mental health issues. Byrne has blended the history of ideas in the Labour movement well within his manifesto through a zero-carbon revolution that could lift families out of fuel poverty, green housebuilding, and decarbonising transport.
Byrne is also incredibly knowledgeable on economics and business which will be vital in terms of bringing much needed investment and infrastructure across the West Midlands. An early champion of the New Street development, he has raised questions about rail devolution in relation to the West Midlands franchise which can have a multiplicity of problems including delays, cancellations and overcrowding. Moreover, he is concerned with jobs in the area that relate to the ongoing delays of HS2 but wants to provide a transport system with better connectivity across the West Midlands.
With a narrow majority for the Conservative incumbent Andy Street, this West Midlands election may be one to watch.
