Action stations in mayor poll battle; CAMPAIGN: Brummies take to the streets in fight for right to choose how they are governed.Byline: By Adam Smith HUNDREDS of Brummies backed the campaign for a people's poll on an elected mayor by signing petitions in a city-wide day of action. Dozens of volunteer campaigners took to the streets in shopping centres from Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield, city (1991 pop. 102,572), Birmingham metropolitan district, central England. The city is a residential suburb of Birmingham with a metal products industry and a large television transmitting station. in the north to Kings Heath Kings Heath is a suburb of Birmingham, England, three miles south of the city centre. It is the next 'village' south from Moseley on the Alcester Road. The central shopping area runs along the High Street and Alcester Road, and the shops include branches of national chain stores, in the south. The Day of Action was called to raise awareness of the campaign and give people the chance to demand their right to have a say on how their city is run. And many did, eagerly picking up the petitions and signing for a referendum on whether Birmingham should have a Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born June 17, 1945) is a British politician who became Mayor of London on the creation of the post in 2000. He was previously Leader of the Greater London Council from 1981 until it was abolished in 1986. style elected mayor or not. Some even took sheathes of petition sheets away to sign up family, friends and colleagues over the next few days. Alex Scott Alex Scott can refer to:
He said: "It was a great success. The people of Harborne were wonderful and some of them were very socially and politically aware. In total we managed to collect between 70 and 80 signatures which was better than we expected and we learnt a lot from the experience." Coun Gurdail Singh Atwal and Coun Narinder Kaur Kooner collected over 100 signatures in Handsworth Wood Coordinates: Handsworth Wood is a loosely defined area in the north west of Birmingham, England. It is also a ward within the formal district of Perry Barr. , finding particular success on the Soho Road. Coun Atwall said: "We had a very good day and were very pleased to get over 100 signatures for this campaign. "The shopkeepers and shoppers on the Soho Road were very interested in the campaign and they will be helping the Birmingham Mail The Birmingham Mail is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, UK but distributed around Birmingham, The Black Country, Solihull, Warwickshire and parts of Worcestershire and Staffordshire. try to get the required number of signatures needed." In Sutton Coldfield town centre, campaigner Rob Pocock collected several sheets full of petition names. He said: "People here are keen to sign. We have information leaflets explaining the issue and when they realise it is about them having a say through a referendum they want to sign. "I even had one gentleman who was so in favour that he helped me collect some names." Kings Heath Coun Mike Leddy believes the public do not understand enough about the role that a Mayor could play and called for a public debate to raise awareness of the issue. He said: "It is obvious through speaking to the people of Kings Heath that a lot of people do not understand the potential that an elected Mayor could have in this city. I am for an elected Mayor and I even have someone in mind for the job." Eva Phillips accompanied Hodge Hill Hodge Hill is an area seven km east of Birmingham city centre, England. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller constituency ward and the wards of Bordesley Green, Shard End and Washwood Heath. MP Liam Byrne on the mayoral campaign trail at the Fox and Goose Shopping Centre. She said: "Anybody who had heard of the campaign was happy to sign our petition but it was a little harder persuading those who had not heard of it. "Liam picked up quite a lot of case work whilst speaking to people on the streets so we were pleased to collect five full pages of signatures." Erdington Coun Jilly Bermingham hit the High Street in her quest for signatures. She said: "As usual the people of Erdington want their say and they were very interested in the campaign and we got a few pages of signatures which we were very pleased with." Following the city wide effort the campaigners will be compiling totals, collecting in petition sheets before deciding the next stage of the campaign. The petition needs five per cent of registered voters in Birmingham to sign it in order to force a referendum - a staggering 36,000 people. It has a year to collect these names. Already thousands have signed up and if the Day of Action proves anything there is a huge appetite among people for a say in how their city is run. The current council leadership wants to make this decision itself, without consulting the people, and will choose to keep the system of council appointed leader and cabinet under which they were chosen - rather than a mayor voted for by the people. CAPTION(S): SIGN HERE... campaigners, from left, Mumtaz Hussain and nephew Bilal Hussain, 20 months, Petronila Olaya, Sister Catherine O'Neill, Maria Sanmartin, Sister Pius Curtin, Sheila Menzel and Sunny Thomas. Picture: Emma Lee; ALUM ROCK; WARD END; SPARKBROOK; SHARD END; ERDINGTON; SPARKBROOK Photosales No.: EL201007ALUM-1 |
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