West Midlands Mayor Andy Street (PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)The mayor for West Midlands has publicly told a young Conservative who labelled Birmingham “a dump” ahead of the party’s conference in the city to “push off”.
Chairman and Operations Lead for the Young Conservative Network, Daniel Grainger, said in a tweet on Saturday that “Birmingham is a dump”.
Mr Grainger is among Tory members arriving in the city for the Conservative Party Conference which is kicking off on Sunday.
West Midlands mayor Andy Street - Birmingham native - took issue with the comment and took to Twitter to call out the comment.
“Off you pop then, and take anyone with the same views with you,” he wrote on Saturday.
“Try and take some time to grow up and understand just why this city is so special whilst you’re gone.”
In a separate tweet, Mr Street said he may be a Conservative, “but I’m also a bloody proud Brummie”.
“I won’t have anyone who’s never lived or breathed this place trying to put us down,” he added.
I may be a Conservative, but I’m also a bloody proud Brummie. I won’t have anyone who’s never lived or breathed this place trying to put us down.
— Andy Street (@andy4wm) October 1, 2022
Mr Grainger has since apologised for calling the city a dump.
“My tweet in relation to Birmingham was not about the city or the people,” he claimed on the social media platform.
“I’ve always enjoyed my visits to your city, but this morning I was greeted by an individual who threatened me with a mugging. I was angry and tweeted without thinking, I apologise for any offence caused.”
In a separate tweet Mr Grainger said he wanted to “directly” apologise to Mr Street, the Conservatives and “other representatives of Birmingham for my ill concieved comments”.
A young Tory really leaning into @trussliz's determination say "unpopular" things? pic.twitter.com/wcIxrcKNNr
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) October 1, 2022
He said he had since deleted the offensive tweet. Mr Grainger also made his Twitter account private on Saturday afternoon.
Andy Street was elected as mayor of the West Midlands in 2017 and was re-elected in 2021, winning 54 per cent of the votes cast. He grew up in Birmingham.
Mr Grainger is currently a student at Durham University, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The Conservative Party Conference takes place between October 2-5 at the International Convention Centre on Broad Street.
