Conservative Party Chairman Richard Holden was full of confidence about the mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections in the West Midlands, the local elections across Dudley and the general election nationally as he spoke to Express & Star senior reporter James Vukmirovic at Sedgley Conservative Club
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Okay, so tell me what it is that's brought you to Sedgley today?
00:02Well, I tell you now what's brought me here is the fact that we've got some fantastic councillors, candidates up across
00:08Dudley this time, but also this is going to be a crucial part when we're talking about the West Midlands mayoral election more generally.
00:16These are big elections this year, really determined not just around the super local stuff, which is the council level,
00:22but this is all about those big investment projects that are coming to the region and I think over the last few years
00:27people can see locally here in Dudley, across the black country, across the West Midlands in general,
00:33exactly what Andy has brought in terms of those huge big pieces of investment, and he doesn't want to stop.
00:40And that's why I think one of the really great things about Andy is he's got that deep public spirited
00:46view of life and he wants to keep going because he wants to keep delivering for local people.
00:51As you said, it's an important time on sort of three different levels. Dudley is a
00:55conservative run council. Yes. How do you think the council's performed over the last few years?
01:01Well, I think it's done pretty well. I mean one of the things that you know about Dudley is
01:04for the area, one of the lowest council taxes as well, which is really good.
01:09Obviously, they keep things running pretty tight on that basis, which is really good.
01:14It's always going to be tough when it comes to
01:18dealing with certain issues locally, but I think overall, you know, they're doing a pretty good job,
01:24which is great. And you can see when I speak to local councils, some of the local council candidates,
01:29just what they're doing on the ground as well. You've mentioned Andy Street and obviously the work he's doing.
01:34Do you think he can keep his position this time around? I do. It's not going to be easy.
01:39This is a really tough election. When these elections were last fought, right, you know,
01:442021, we were at 44% in the national polls. Labour were 10 points behind us.
01:49That's obviously not the same, you know, positions reversed at the moment.
01:52But I've got every confidence that we can turn those big national numbers around for the general election with great MPs like Marco here.
02:00But I also think that we can do it for the local elections as well.
02:05It's not going to be easy. These are tough fights.
02:07But when it comes to people who give you best value locally, you can see that's Conservative councils,
02:13whether it's and also who delivers the best services locally, also Conservative councils.
02:18And when it comes to the mayoralty, which is the big one here, and also the PCC as well, we have to see Conservatives in there.
02:26We know what happened when Labour were running the PCC gig, right?
02:29It all went to hell in a handcart here in the West Midlands.
02:32You can see what's happening in London, where you've got a Labour mayor running the PCC role as well.
02:38You know, if it wasn't for London, knife crime across the UK would have been seen quite a substantial drop.
02:44But London is so bad, the mayor is not looking after it down there so badly, that actually we're seeing it's actually tipping the national numbers.
02:52Now, I don't want to see that happening here in the West Midlands.
02:56I want to see a great Conservative mayor, like you've got in Andy Street, and a great Conservative police and crime commissioner really taking that crime head on.
03:14Speaking of, obviously, the national picture with whenever the general election happens, you've probably seen the polls, you've probably seen the predictions of a Labour landslide.
03:27What can the Conservative Party do to turn around the predictions?
03:32The key thing is, is having conversations on the doorsteps with people.
03:36And Marco will probably found this as well.
03:39I've certainly spoken to a lot of local councils right across the country.
03:42I mean, I was out in Birmingham, Northfield, just the other day.
03:46I was out in Tipton and Wensbury, not a million miles from here earlier this week as well.
03:51And it's quite clear on the doorstep when people are actually presented with that choice, right, of do they want a Conservative council?
03:58And you can see what's happened in Birmingham when they had a Labour council, right?
04:01But do they want a Conservative council?
04:04Do they want a Conservative mayor?
04:07Do they want that?
04:08And that is there in a few weeks time for them.
04:10They've actually got to make that decision.
04:12They're starting to think about that decision.
04:14There's postal votes going to be landing in the next week or so.
04:17You know, they'll be going to literally to those ballot boxes, you know, in a few weeks time when they're thinking about that decision.
04:22And it's actually there.
04:23I think they're going to come back to the Conservatives.
04:25I'm really confident we can do that.
04:27And I think that's the same on a national level.
04:29When it actually comes to the choice, right, when there's an election on the table.
04:33Do you want a fantastic, hardworking MP here in Dudley, like Marco, like Mike's been as well, right?
04:39Or do you want to have, you know, Keir Starmer walking through the door of No. 10?
04:44With all of that means, the man who, you know, takes the knee to every woke cause, going, you know, he changes his opinions faster than fast fashion is able to deliver new clothes, right?
04:56And we all know what fast fashion is.
04:58It's cheap and tacky and falls apart at the seams, which is exactly what happens with Keir Starmer's arguments and positions every time that he comes for us.
05:06When it comes down to it, I'm convinced that over the next few months, we can show that we're a united party delivering in the interests of the people.
05:14And whether it comes to, you know, the only thing about Labour these days is, you know, my great grandfather was locked up during the general strike, right?
05:23But the only thing about working people from the Labour Party these days is its name, right?
05:30It's not interested in working people.
05:32When it comes to working people, we're the ones voting to cut tax for them in Westminster, right?
05:37900 quid a year tax cuts now going forwards from the Conservatives, that National Insurance cut.
05:43But we're also helping people who've worked hard all their lives by ensuring the triple lock pension's been in place, right?
05:48Which is giving another 900 pound increase of people on the state pension.
05:52And what will Labour do?
05:54No answers at all.
05:55No plan.
05:56You know, and we all know what happened last time they were in government.
05:59Actually, it was working people who paid the price.
06:01Because every single majority Labour government has left unemployment higher than when it started.
06:05I think when it comes to those sorts of choices, our party, my Conservative party, behind people who are working, behind people who've worked hard all their lives, or they see the other side of Labour, I know when it comes down to it, it's going to be a lot tighter than people say.
06:19And within this local area, obviously, you work with Marco a lot.
06:23You've worked with Mike Wood and the other MPs around here.
06:27Dudley was entirely blue in 2019.
06:30Can it stay that in 2024?
06:32It certainly can.
06:34I genuinely believe it can.
06:36I think we can really make a difference.
06:38And I think this was also going to be genuinely, this area is absolutely crucial.
06:41One of the reasons I'm here today, to ensure that people get out and vote for the mayoral election as well, because it's so vital this time, places like Dudley turn out, because that's what's going to be the difference here.
06:52And we do not want to see what's happened in London with Mayor Khan, with his massive U-led zone right across it, with crime through the roof, with strikes right across public transport constantly.
07:03We don't want to see that brought here to the West Midlands.
07:06And it's absolutely crucial that people realise what's at stake in these local elections this time.
07:11I suppose on top of that, and this has all been my argument with people, make sure you vote, regardless of who you vote for, just make sure you use your votes.
07:19I think it's incredibly important that people vote.
07:22Sometimes people can think, well, local elections, you know, might not be, you know, it's what's at stake, really.
07:28Actually, when it comes down to it, you can see what's at stake at a council level.
07:32You've got Dudley Council with some of the lowest council tax in the country here, running it very well.
07:38On the flip side, you can see what's happened in Birmingham, 21% council tax increase this year because a Labour local authority ran it into the ground.
07:45You can see what's happened in the West Midlands when it comes to the mayoral precept, right?
07:49I think it's really there, right?
07:52On the flip side, £400 a year plus in London, right?
07:55That's the difference you're getting there.
07:57These things matter, not just in a small way, but if you're talking a hundred pounds, hundreds of pounds a year extra in tax, that's the difference as well, which will make a real difference to people's pockets here in Dudley.
08:09I mean, you've got an A-frame on the roof of it, and six foot, five, four posters on, and I was canvassing a house like that one over the road there, and suddenly I saw this enormous picture of my face.
08:19The biggest thing about voting, obviously, is if you don't vote, you don't get the right to complain, obviously.
08:25No, it's really true.
08:26And so you've got three big elections this time.
08:29You've got the mayoral for the West Midlands, you've got the Police and Crime Commissioners for the West Midlands, also really important.
08:34And thirdly, here in Dudley, we've got all-out elections, which means you've got three votes in every ward this time.
08:41So you've got three votes for the local councillors.
08:44Make sure, from my side, that you obviously, there are three conservatives, but you've also got that Police and Crime Commissioner, and also got to vote for Mayor Street as well.
08:52So you've got three votes for your local elections, plus you've got the one for the PCC and for the mayor, which is why for here in Dudley, it's actually a really big set of elections over the next few months.
09:04And then you can go vote for Marco some point later in the year.