Express & Star comment: Labour needs strong West Midlands support for Jeremy Corbyn to reach Number 10
If Jeremy Corbyn is to sweep to power, he needs to put in a strong showing in the West Midlands.
With so many of the region’s seats on a knife edge, the decisions made by voters on our patch will go a long way towards deciding the overall result of next month’s election.
As things stand the polls predict a disastrous time for Mr Corbyn’s party, although such things are to be taken with a pinch of salt, particularly at this early stage of proceedings.
However, the Labour leader will surely realise the scale of the task before him when he examines events in a key seat not a million miles from here.
Tory-held Shrewsbury and Atcham is high on Mr Corbyn’s hit list, being a seat which his party held until 2005.
Were Labour fighting with clear policies, a united team and a cohesive strategy they might stand a genuine chance of taking it back.
After all, the Conservatives have been in power for a decade and ours is a nation that hankers for periodic change. Given the quagmire into which politics has descended over Brexit and the warring factions that have polarised the Conservative Party, it could be a time of change. But events in this particular constituency shows just how unlikely that is.
Laura Davies is a strong local candidate, yet the Labour Party has ditched her because of a political row. Those involved in it would no doubt defend their right to argue and disagree. But a more prescient truth dominates the issue and it is this: the public really doesn’t care.
People are sick to the back teeth of political fighting; they want our politicians to put forward positive policies, to steer us through turbulent waters as we attempt to negotiate Brexit, they want reassurances that our economy won’t struggle in the years ahead.
They also want concrete promises on domestic policies.
This own goal points to the conflict at the heart of Labour. It will do little to address the concerns of those who suggest that under Mr Corbyn, the party has descended into a squabbling mess. And it could come back to haunt the party when voters head to the polls next month.
