Tag Archives: west midlands

Simon McGrath

How Sam beat Reform in Bromsgrove

By Simon McGrath | Tue 11th November 2025 - 4:05 pm

Like many Lib Dems I was  immensely pleased to read of the victory of Sam Ammar in Bromsgrove South last week,  taking a seat from Reform.  

I had met  Sam at the  London Region Conference a few weeks ago and was really struck by her story of how she joined us from Labour and her energy and enthusiasm and I  wanted to find our the inside story of how our   Bromsgrove Team beat Reform.

The by election was called after a Reform Cllr ( who had not attended any Council meetings since her election in May ) resigned due to ill health. The ward is  very diverse from heavy social housing in one end (in the District  Council  seat which Sam also represents ) to £million houses at the other end and 3  gastro pubs.

Sam has been our candidate in May 2025  coming a runner up when Reform took the ward from the Tories and  already represents part of the ward on the District Council. She was selected as candidate and the team immediately started intensive campaigning. 

There were a number of local issues which we were already campaigning on, one of them  was the Government Plan for an additional 9,000 homes to be built locally  with 500 in the heart of the ward. 

Dr David Nicholls one of our local Cllrs and PPC in 2024  said : “I absolutely accept that we need to build more houses, but concreting fields is not the answer,” 

Lib Dems have also been campaigning for a new road the ‘Western Relief Road” to run in parallel with the M5 and  relieve congestion on the A38 – something that will only get worse if new homes are built.

Our literature was classic ALDC by election stuff with an attack/squeeze  leaflet aimed at Reform issued at the end of the campaign. 

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Lorely Burt

Lorely Burt writes: A real step change in connectivity for the West Midlands

By Lorely Burt | Sun 20th September 2020 - 9:58 am

As we start party conference, it is slightly odd not to have to pack a bag, book train tickets or google where to eat at the seaside. This year I’m thinking about what kind of snacks I need for our marathon online conference!

But this year, as we embark on Ed Davey’s first conference as leader, I believe we are in a good place as a party – strong, united and ready for a year of action and growth.  In my own part of the world, in the West Midlands we are ready too.

But as I look around the region, I see the impact of coronavirus and I worry about the potential long-term scarring for the young, those on the margins, the vulnerable and elderly. The rebuilding must start now. We need to create jobs and invest in our communities, and avoid returning back to the days of austerity.

Before COVID-19, the West Midlands was one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. The upcoming Budget and Comprehensive Spending Review offers us an opportunity to finally force the government to put fuel into the Midlands Engine. As the former MP and now Baroness Burt of Solihull, I back any sustainable infrastructure investment that can improve the lives of people living and working within the region. Midlands Connect, the strategic transport body for the Midlands, has developed a rail scheme with its partners that should deliver a real step-change in rail connectivity to Birmingham International and Coventry railway stations.

The ‘Birmingham Airport Connectivity’ project is central to fulfilling the region’s levelling-up agenda, aiding the region’s green economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic by supporting enterprise, development and regeneration across a number of important growth sites across the West Midlands. It will deliver new, direct rail services to Birmingham International and Coventry stations for over 2 million people, including those living in and around Derby, Sheffield, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. Plus it’ll create an extra service an hour from Leamington Spa, Banbury, Oxford and Reading to Birmingham International and Coventry.

Birmingham International railway station is at the epicentre of a number of nationally-important assets including; Birmingham Airport, the second busiest airport in the UK outside London; the National Exhibition Centre; Resorts World arena and shopping park; and Jaguar Land Rover’s Solihull plant. Close by, the arrival of the HS2 Interchange station is stimulating huge investment and regeneration. To realise the full benefits of this transformational opportunity, the Urban Growth Company is promoting investment in 140 hectares of mixed-use development at ‘UK Central’, set to create up to 5,000 new homes, 650,000 square metres of commercial space and support 70,000 new and existing jobs.

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Elizabeth Adams

How West Midlands pastoral care initiative hopes to change the party’s culture

By Elizabeth Adams | Wed 2nd March 2016 - 12:23 pm

West Midlands pastoral careDiversity is in the spotlight ahead of Spring Conference in York and there are many discussions taking place around the best way to get progress in the party. Much of the focus is on the party’s representative bodies and selection processes. However, we need to remember the culture changes and improvement still needed at grassroots level.

With the passion that our members and supporters show for campaigning and democracy, it is easy, at an organisational level, to forget a crucial fact. Our party must also be passionate about people. About recruiting them, investing in them and taking care of their wellbeing.

Just a few years ago the party was headed for calamity with regard to recruitment. This was turned around by reforming how membership recruitment should be fundamental to campaigning. Those who led the charge to change attitudes and implement structural incentives, should be congratulated. We can all see the difference and the morale boost that this has given to everyone.

Now it is time to do the same with the latter two actions.

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