This is how the West Midlands Mayoral election will probably play out - and it's not how you think
Based on national polling and sentiment about the Conservative Party, Andy Street should be headed for a massive defeat in this week's West Midlands Mayoral Election, but that won't be how it plays out, and one poll might just explain why.
According to a report and poll by More In Common, the West Midlands Combined Authority Mayoral Elections will be very much neck and neck between incumbent Andy Street and Labour challenger Richard Parker.
If regional voting behaviours mirrored national sentiment, Andy Street would be heading for a painful drubbing in his second re-election bid this week. But that's not what this poll says will happen.
Instead, with the electorate increasingly voting differently in local elections to how they vote nationally, this poll finds Mr Street dramatically outperforming the Conservative national average and he finds himself in a "statistical dead heat" with Labour's Mr Parker.
More In Common's West Midlands analysis said: "In our focus group of voters in the West Midlands, attitudes to Street were undoubtedly more positive than those of almost any other politician we have spoken to voters about in recent years.
"There was genuine recognition of his work for the area from the Metro tram extensions to the Commonwealth Games.
