Liz Truss in pledge to ‘vital region’

The woman most expect to be the next Prime Minister spoke to the Express & Star about the importance of our “vital” region.

She spoke as she was due to visit Jaguar Land Rover’s i54 factory near Wolverhampton on Tuesday ahead of a hustings debate with Rishi Sunak.

Ms Truss pledged to help Midland Metro extension a reality by releasing funding for the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill line.

She said she wanted the region to have more power to determine its own future, adding: “I will put the West Midlands at the heart of our economic revival with my Conservative plan to level up.

“My bold vision for lower taxes, supply side reform, and regulation that works for our businesses will utilise the power of the West Midlands economy to boost opportunity for people across the region.”

The Foreign Secretary has the backing of West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, who said: “We need a bold plan for our economy. When we do well, so does the rest of the UK.”

The West Midlands is crucial to the Conservatives if they hope to stay in power come the next general election.

The party picked up seats in ‘red wall’ areas of he region.

But its defeat to the Liberal Democrats in the ‘safe’ seat of Shropshire North shows that it can be vulnerable and Labour and the Liberal Democrats have targeted many seats in our region.

Ms Truss said she was aware of why people voted Conservative and was determined to connect the party to the electorate again.

She said: “Many of those who voted Conservative in 2019, including in this region, did so because they were inspired by our promise of real change. That is what I will provide by uniting our party in delivering on our promises.”