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Former West Midlands Mayor Andy Street could run for safe MP seat in Birmingham
25 May 2024, 08:59 | Updated: 25 May 2024, 10:00
Former West Midlands Mayor Andy Street could run for a safe MP seat in Birmingham, his friends say.
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The Top Tory lost his seat after seven years in office earlier this month as a result of the drumming the party got in the local elections.
But LBC understands he’s keen to seriously consider a move to Westminster instead, with Solihull the likely battleground.
After the election was called for July 4, Tories and Labour are both scrambling to fill candidate seats as soon as possible and get out on the campaign trail.
Natasha Clark reveals Andy Street could be running for Parliament
The former MP, Julian Knight, is standing down at the next election, and is currently standing as an independent.
Sources close to Mr Street said he hadn’t made up his mind yet.
As a former John Lewis boss with bags of business experience, he will likely not be short of offers of jobs to do next.
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Mr Street, who is from Solihull himself, hoovered up votes there in the Mayoral election despite losing to Labours Richard Parker.
A spokesperson for him said: “Following the West Midlands Mayoral election result earlier this month, Andy is taking some time away to consider and assess his options before deciding on his next move.”
Labour's Richard Parker has defeated Mr Street in the West Midlands mayoralty election by just 1,508 votes.
After a recount in Coventry, it was confirmed that Mr Parker garnered 225,590 votes to beat Mr Street's 224,082.
On the night, it was perhaps the biggest victory in a series of wins for Labour in the local elections.
Mr Street had attempted to distance himself from the Conservatives during the campaign.
He was a very vocal opponent to his own party's decision to scrap HS2's link from Birmingham to Manchester.
