Michael Whitby, Baron Whitby

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Mike Whitby in the Council Chamber , Birmingham.

Mike Whitby, Whitby Baron (* 6. February 1948 ) is a British politician of the Conservative Party .

Life and business career

Whitby attended the James Watt Technical Grammar School in Smethwick and Michael's Hoven College in what was then West Germany . He then did voluntary work there; he helped rebuild communities that had been destroyed in World War II. He worked in the cultural sector in Liverpool , teaching business and management studies. He is currently the Chairman and Managing Director of Skeldings , a Smethwick-based engineering company that won the June 2001 Birmingham Post Business Award.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors , President of Marketing Birmingham, Chairman of Birmingham Science Park , Aston, and a Board Member of the National Exhibition Center , Midlands Regional Development Agency, Advantage West Midlands, and the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership .

He has also previously served as a director of various regional organizations including the Engineering Employers Federation , the Chamber of Commerce , the Birmingham City Region and the Federation of Small Businesses .

Political career

Whitby joined the Conservative Party in 1979 . He first appeared in 1987 for Midlands West in a by-election to the European Parliament , and again in 1989 and in the British general election in 1992 for the constituency of Delyn . He did not win the constituency, but increased the proportion of votes for the Tories. In 1997 he was elected for the Harborne district in a by-election. He has held this seat since then, most recently in the 2010 local elections.

In 1998 Whitby became Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group in Birmingham City Council, and in 2003 he became Group Leader. After the 2004 local elections, Whitby became Leader of the Council after he had formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrat Party in an agreement which Whitby described as a "Progressive Partnership". This group's control of the council was jeopardized in the 2011 local elections when the Conservatives lost 6 seats and the Liberal Democrats 7 seats, making Labor the strongest force with 55 seats. Whitby's colleagues saw themselves as victims of national affairs, but comments suggest that the 2012 local election will be the last for the current coalition.

From June 2004 to May 2012 he was Chairman of the Birmingham City Council . He is one of three councilors that represent the Harborne district to the west of the city. He was previously a councilor on the Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council . On September 10, 2013 he was appointed Life peer as Baron Whitby of, Harborne in the City of Birmingham, was appointed.

Activities as chairman of the council

Whitby describes the mandate for the Progressive Partnership as challenging:

• "Deliver within a low tax environment
• receive collapsing services
• Raising the quality of life
• Make decisions on delayed infrastructure projects
• transform Birmingham City Council into a body fit for the 21st century
• Improving Birmingham's Reputation "

After almost 11 years of majority on the council, Whitby spoke of achieving his goals on these challenges, highlighting the fact that the Birmingham City Council is now one of the least taxing councils in a major UK city, 2011/12 and 2012 / 13 no increases were made. Whitby pointed to improvements in key areas such as housing, planning and social security, citing the surge that Birmingham had seen in statistics such as the Mercer World Quality of Living Report, in which Birmingham rose three places to 52nd in 2011, ahead of any other UK Cities, except the capital.

Whitby has been heavily involved in a number of major infrastructure projects in Birmingham. The £ 189 million project for the Library of Birmingham , which was due to open to the public on September 3, 2013, was a personal responsibility for Whitby during his tour. The new library, designed by architects from Mecanoo , will be one of Europe's largest public libraries when completed and resulted in the demolition of the old library building, paving the way for a £ 500,000 redevelopment of the Paradise Circus area. Whitby was also responsible for enforcing the £ 600 million cost of renovating New Street Station in collaboration with Network Rail , Advantage West Midlands and Centro.

During his tenure as chairman, Whitby was responsible for the tagline "Global City, Local Heart," a brand that appears regularly on council documents and marketing materials. The slogan has been described as a simple phrase that captures the fact that as a city of over a million people, Birmingham is one of the largest cities in the world, but an important part that makes the city special is the diversity of the individuals living there .

Whitby is closely associated with the development of the Birmingham Big City Plan . In 2007 a report was commissioned by Councilor Whitby; The result was The Birmingham City Center Masterplan: The Visioning Study by Professor Michael Parkinson . The largest master-planning exercise of its kind, the Big City Plan is designed to shape and revitalize Birmingham's city center 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.

At times, Whitby made headlines as a result of comments he made in public. In 2006, he gave a written apology to the newly elected Councilor of Respect , Salma Yaqoob, after saying she was better off in Oldham or Burnley . Yaqoob had criticized the council leadership for the lack of dark-skinned or Asian councilors in the cabinet or other high positions. In February 2007 Whitby withdrew statements that had drawn the attention of the charity organization Mind . In a debate, he accused Labor Councilors of suffering from schizophrenia . In the same debate, a cabinet colleague described Labor members as suffering from senile dementia . After receiving media attention, Whitby made a partial apology.

In December 2007, he criticized the study by a conservative think tank led by former party leader Iain Duncan Smith as "misguided, inaccurate, outdated and misleading". The report stated that the council must tackle severe poverty and unemployment before it can designate Birmingham as a big city.

Whitby on mayor elected

The subject of elected mayors in major cities has haunted Whitby since he became politically active in Birmingham . In 2001 he was part of a no campaign that successfully opposed the introduction of mayors in Birmingham, while in 2006 and 2007 his relationship with David Cameron was strained, as Whitby opposed the conservative policies of directly elected mayors for the leadership of major ones Cities in England disagreed. Whitby reportedly called the debate over it childish and doubted support for the idea would be part of the upcoming election platform. At the time, the Birmingham Mail was campaigning for a referendum on the issue, but the campaign did not get enough attention.

There was later speculation that his attitude towards the mayor issue has become more relaxed. He has not discussed this publicly since 2007, in 2012 there were press reports that if Whitby voted "yes" he could run as the Conservative candidate in a referendum.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ No.10 Mike Whitby . In: Birmingham Post . 
2. ↑ BBC Local Election Results 2011 - Birmingham . In: BBC . 
3. ↑ Birmingham City Council elections: Lib Dems stunned as they lose seats after 20 years . In: Birmingham Mail . 
4. ↑ Birmingham City Council budget is a 'ticking time bomb', claims opposition . In: Birmingham Post . 
5. ↑ London Gazette . No. 60625, HMSO, London, September 12, 2013, p. 18033 ( PDF , English).
6. ^ Mike Whitby - State of the City 2011 . Birmingham City Council. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
7. ^ Minutes - Birmingham City Council Meeting . Birmingham City Council. February 28, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
8. ^ Birmingham library's opening date announced . In: BBC News . 
9. ^ New Street New Start . Archived from the original on August 28, 2010. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 24, 2014. 
10. ↑ 'Global city - local heart' has never been more apt for Birmingham . In: Birmingham Post . 
11. ^ The Birmingham City Center Master Plan: The Visioning Study . Birmingham City Council. Archived from the original on February 29, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 25, 2010. 
12. ↑ Sorry, my remarks were misinterpreted, says Whitby - Birmingham Post
13. ↑ Whitby retracts schizophrenia jibe - Birmingham Post
14. ^ Mike Whitby slams 'misleading' Tory report about Birmingham - Birmingham Mail
15. ^ Birmingham Council leader Mike Whitby in dig at David Cameron - Birmingham Mail
16. ↑ Mike Whitby drops strongest hint that he will stand in Birmingham mayor election . In: Birmingham Post . 

predecessor	Office	successor
Sir Albert Bore	Leader of Birmingham City Council 2004–2012	Sir Albert Bore