EXCLUSIVE: West Midlands must speak with one voice – Johnson

THE Mayor of London Boris Johnson has said if the West Midlands plans to compete against his City or the likes of the Northern Powerhouse then it has to have a central administration representing it.

Mr Johnson, in an interview with TheBusinessDesk.com, said his experiences in London had shown him that only a united front was capable of delivering key strategic goals, especially on issues such as transport.

Equally, he said that that administration had to have a powerful figurehead leading it so the body spoke with one voice – whether that person was an elected Mayor or not.

“In London the elected Mayor was the right way forward. There has to be a big central administration in order to get things done,” he said.

“That administration has to be capable of demonstrating to Central Government that is has the capability to get large projects over the line.

“The results will be significant because big strategic projects, especially those involving transport, will benefit.”

With the devolution debate in full swing as the General Election nears, his comments could help to characterise how a major strategic region such as the West Midlands needs to position itself as it looks to move forward.

Mr Johnson said that if the region wanted to capitalise on schemes such as the HS2 high speed rail link then it should have a clearly defined policy and compete for powers to allow self-determination.

He said that in the case of Birmingham, the city should take a greater role in the Core Cities partnership.

The partnership is a collaboration by the eight largest cities in England outside London, together with Cardiff and Glasgow. It claims that by working together it can deliver improved economies for each of its members.

“Core Cities needs to make the pitches to Central Government; it needs to show that it is capable of governing important schemes with greater efficiency – but it must be a unified message,” said Mr Johnson.

“London is annoyingly powerful when all the parties agree on something. If Birmingham or the West Midlands wants to be more like that then it has to adopt a similar approach.”

In addition to HS2, he said such an approach might be important on issues such as regional aviation growth.

“I’m in favour of regional airports; I think it’s important to have a strong network outside the South East. I don’t think we’ve got the message right in London yet as regards Heathrow and Gatwick so if there is capacity elsewhere then it makes sense to use it,” he said.

“If Birmingham Airport is to grow then it is important that it has the support of all parties locally.”

He said it would be interesting to see what effect the new HS2 interchange at Birmingham International had on both Birmingham Airport and those in the South East.

This will be key to the success of one of the region’s big strategic projects – UK Central.

UK Central (previously known as the M42 Economic Gateway) in Solihull is the West Midlands’ principal international gateway and strongest performing economy, supporting an estimated 100,000 jobs region-wide and contributing £5.1bn to regional GDP.

The plan includes investment in rapid transit schemes, green infrastructure, improvements around Junction Six of the M42 to facilitate growth at the airport, the NEC and Birmingham Business Park and additional measures to support growth in North Solihull, Solihull town centre and the Blythe Valley Business Park.