Polls suggest Labour’s Richard Parker will win mayoral election

 
Labour’s launch event was hosted by National Express West Midlands

 
Labour’s candidate in next month’s West Midlands mayoral election has pledged to bring bus services back under public control if he wins power on May 2.

The Labour Party chose the West Midlands as the location for the launch its plans for a better bus network across England on April 11. Labour’s mayoral candidate, Richard Parker, joined shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh at the event.

Opinion polls show that Parker has a substantial lead on the current Conservative mayor, Andy Street, who is seeking a third term. Street, a businessman who was the managing director of John Lewis from 2007 to 2016, has sought to improve local bus services through partnership working with bus operators since he became the region’s first directly-elected mayor in 2017.

“Under the Conservatives thousands of vital bus services have disappeared and local communities have been left powerless, with no tools to hold operators to account,” said Parker.

As mayor of the West Midlands I will end this broken system and bring our buses back under public control

“As mayor of the West Midlands I will end this broken system and bring our buses back under public control.

“With a Labour mayor for the West Midlands, and a Labour Government in Westminster, we can work together to deliver better buses, faster.”

Labour’s launch event was hosted by National Express West Midlands, which is the dominant operator in the West Midlands. If franchising was implemented, the 1,600-vehicle company, which is owned by Mobico Group (formerly National Express Group), would have to bid against rival groups to retain all or part of its business. National Express West Midlands is the group’s only remaining UK bus operation – so a failure in the bidding process could result in Mobico’s exit from the UK market.

If the polls are correct and Parker wins the May 2 election then the West Midlands will follow in the footsteps of
Greater Manchester, which has already introduced bus franchising and will complete the process next year. Other metro-mayors in England are all progressing plans to introduce bus franchising.

 
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.

DON’T MISS OUT – GET YOUR COPY! – click here to subscribe!