Mike Whitby

Mike Whitby in the Council Chamber, Birmingham.

Mike Whitby is an English Conservative Party politician and current leader of Birmingham City Council, a post he has held since June 2004. He is one of three Conservative councillors representing the Harborne ward in the west of the city. He was formerly a Councillor on Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council.

Background

Mike Whitby was educated in Smethwick at James Watt Technical Grammar School, and also at Michael's Hoven College in the then West Germany. He then undertook a period of voluntary work in Germany, helping to rebuild communities destroyed during World War II.

He has worked in the cultural sector in Liverpool, and also lectured in Business and Management Studies. He is currently Chairman and Managing Director of Skeldings, a small Smethwick engineering company, which was the winner of the Birmingham Post Business Award in June 2001.

Whitby serves, and has served, as both a Director and as Chairman of various large organisations, including the Engineering Employers Federation, the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses, the National Exhibition Centre, Marketing Birmingham and Advantage West Midlands. He is currently Chairman of Aston Science Park and the City Region of Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. He is a member of the Institute of Directors.

History in politics

Whitby joined the Conservative Party in 1979. He first stood as a candidate in the Midlands West European by-election in 1987, again for Midlands West in the European Parliament Elections in 1989, and then as a Westminster Parliamentary candidate for Delyn in 1992, though on both occasions he was unsuccessful he did significantly improve the Conservative vote. He finally achieved elected office in 1997, on winning the Harborne ward of Birmingham in a by-election. He has retained the seat since, most recently in the 2006 local election. He became Leader of the Conservative Group on Birmingham City Council in 2003, and Leader of the Council in 2004.

As leader of Birmingham City Council

Following the city-wide elections in 2004 Whitby has led the Council in what he terms a progressive partnership with the Liberal Democrats.

A guiding principle for the progressive partnership under Whitby has been its consistent delivery of low levels of taxation, whilst at the same time improving frontline services. This is evidenced by four consecutive years of below-inflation Council Tax increases of 1.9%, making Birmingham's council tax the lowest average across four years for any Metropolitan Council in the UK, whilst the Audit Commission's analysis of the Council has moved from "weak" in 2004 to "improving well" in 2008.

Now in its fifth year, Whitby's administration continues to be described as "out of control",^[1] as Birmingham City Council continues its "journey towards excellence". Headline achievements include: housing and social services, condemned as failing by the Government in 2004, are now described as good. The largest public sector business transformation programme in the UK, which is predicted to save £1 billion, is well underway. A pay and grading review for 40,000 staff has been completed, producing a fairer salary system – something the previous Labour couldn’t or wouldn’t do. The £600 million refurbishment of New Street Station has been approved, and Birmingham will have a new library by 2013.

During his time as Leader Whitby has been responsible for the slogan "Global City, Local Heart", a brand which commonly appears on Council documents and marketing material. It has now been described as a simple phrase which captures the fact that as a city of over a million people Birmingham can be one of the worlds' great cities, but an integral part of what makes it great is the diverse individuals which make up the population.

Whitby has been closely linked with the development of the Birmingham Big City Plan. In 2007, a report was commissioned by Councillor Whitby, the result was The Birmingham City Centre Masterplan: The Visioning Study by Professor Michael Parkinson.^[2] The largest masterplanning exercise of its kind, the Big City Plan is designed to shape and revitalise Birmingham's city centre over the next twenty years, putting the city's sustainability, culture, creativity, technology and enterprise at the heart of its future plans, activities and development.

Controversy

At times, Whitby has attracted headlines as a result of comments he has made in public. In 2006, he made a written apology to newly-elected Respect Councillor Salma Yaqoob following remarks he made that she would be "better off in Oldham or Burnley". Yaqoob had criticised the Council leadership for the absence of Black or Asian Councillors in the Council Cabinet or in senior positions such as Chairs of Scrutiny Committees.^[3]

In February 2007, Whitby withdrew remarks which attracted the attention of mental health charity Mind. In a council debate, he accused Labour Councillors of suffering from schizophrenia. In the same debate, a Cabinet colleague also described the Labour Councillors of suffering senile dementia. Following media attention Whitby issued a partial apology.^[4]

On becoming leader of Birmingham City Council in 2004, one of councillor Whitby's first acts was to discontinue plans for a new central library in the Eastside regeneration area of the city. Despite planning for the project being well advanced and there being a widely admired design by Richard Rogers, the newly elected Conservative-Liberal partnership believed the proposed building was in the wrong place and would cost too much. Since then, there have been suggestions (later retracted and then repeated) that the city would hold an international competition for a new library on a different site next to Centenary Square. Suggestions have since been raised that the new site is too small and that the costs have actually risen since the Rogers scheme was rejected. Objections have also been raised by some conservationists to the proposed demolition of the existing Central Library, designed by local architect John Madin.

Relationship with Conservative Party leadership

Whitby has clashed with the leadership of the Conservative Party and the Leader David Cameron on more than one occasion. In December 2007, he criticised the study of a Tory think tank headed by former Conservative Party Leader Iain Duncan Smith to be "error-ridden, inaccurate, out of date and misleading".^[5] The report claimed the Council needed to tackle crushing poverty and unemployment before it could hail Birmingham as a great city.

In the same month, Whitby also criticised David Cameron in relation to the issue of directly elected mayors to run major cities in England. Whitby has been opposed to having a directly elected mayor in Birmingham. He compared the Tory leader's support for elected mayors to other ideas Cameron had put forward such as "taxing plasma screen televisions and taxing cars in car parks". Whitby commented that "he soon rescinded" those.^[6]

At the time of those comments Whitby described the debate around elected mayors as "puerile" and disputed the idea that support for the idea would form part of the forthcoming Conservative Party manifesto. There was a high profile Birmingham Mail campaign in favour of a referendum for an elected Mayor for Birmingham but the campaign failed to attract anywhere near the level of public interest needed.

However, after the U.K General Election of 2010 which resulted in a Conservative-led administration being in government in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, a bill is going through parliament which facilitates the creation of an elected Mayor for Birmingham - should the people vote for it in a referendum. Whitby, whose opposition to the creation of such a post is well documented, is rumoured to be in the running for the Conservative nomination as Mayoral candidate in 2013. Given his vocal opposition to the creation of the post in the past, Whitby will have a tough task in convincing both his party and the people of Birmingham that he is the right man for this new and crucial role.

References

1. ^ Mike Whitby survives but must get the message
2. ^ "The Birmingham City Centre Masterplan: The Visioning Study". Birmingham City Council. http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/EIUA/EIUA_Docs/Birmingham_report_2.pdf. Retrieved 25 January 2010. 
3. ^ Sorry, my remarks were misinterpreted, says Whitby - Birmingham Post
4. ^ Whitby retracts schizophrenia jibe - Birmingham Post
5. ^ Mike Whitby slams 'misleading' Tory report about Birmingham - Birmingham Mail
6. ^ Birmingham Council leader Mike Whitby in dig at David Cameron - Birmingham Mail

Political offices
Preceded by Sir Albert Bore	Leader of Birmingham City Council 2004 – present	Incumbent

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Name	Whitby, Mike
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