Cheers! £15 fee scrapped for belated Andy Street celebration party
Tory campaigners who helped Andy Street become West Midland Mayor have been spared paying £15 a ticket to celebrate his victory.
Supporters of Mr Street's successful election bid had been asked to fork out to attend the 'celebration evening' at Edgbaston Cricket Stadium.
The event, taking place on September 14, will see Mr Street thank those who helped get him elected and give them an update on his progress in the new role.
Initially supporters had been asked to pay £15 per person where they would be treated to drink and canapes – despite Mr Street having a £1 million campaign war chest.
An email from Mr Street to supporters said: "As I am sure you can imagine, it has been an incredibly busy time and I have been keen to make as much progress as possible from the off.
"This is a Herculean task, and one I relish.
"However, this means that so far we’ve not had the chance to have a proper celebration of our hard work since winning the election on May 4.
"So, we have organised a gathering on Thursday, September 14 where I am looking forward to celebrating our success as well as reporting back to you directly; the team that made it all happen.
"This event will be at Edgbaston Cricket Stadium from 7pm where we will share drinks and canapes. There will be a charge of £15 per person. I would very much like you join us."
It followed instruction of how to pay online or by cheque.
But this week Mr Street, who earned £800,000 a year as managing director of John Lewis, again emailed supporters, saying: "Our success is all down to your hard work.
"Therefore, I am delighted to announce we have been able to secure the funding to cover our costs and make the event free for you and other supporters of the campaign, just as it should be.
"I look forward to spending time with you all over drinks and canapes, and hearing your stories from the campaign and what you have been up to since."
A Street supporter said: "It is great news that this event is now free. It was rather perplexing that volunteers who gave up so much of their time to get Andy elected were then being asked to spend £15 for the pleasure of him thanking us.
"We think this was just an oversight. He is already proving to be an excellent mayor who is making a real difference for the West Midlands."
Mr Street defeated Labour's Sion Simon in the first West Midlands Mayor election.
It was a major coup for the Conservatives to win a region considered Labour heartland.
