2005 West Midlands Assembly election (WMAssembly)

The 2005 West Midlands Assembly election was held on 5 May 2005 to elect 60 members to the West Midlands Assembly. The election coincided with several council elections and the 2005 United Kingdom general election. The Labour Party, lead by Siôn Simon, secured a plurality and formed a minority government.

In 2004, the United Kingdom government led by Tony Blair led an initiative of English devolved assemblies, modeled off the Welsh and Scottish Parliaments. A referendum held in the West Midlands county, encompassing the West Midlands metropolitan area, passed by 7% after a successful 'Yes WM Can' campaign, championed by Siôn Simon of the Labour Party. The primary issue dominating the campaign was devolution: other issues which dominated the simultaneous general election included the economy, healthcare and the unpopular Iraq War.

Despite opinion polls indicating a possibility for Labour to win a majority under the D'Hondt method used to allocate seats, the party only won 25 seats and a plurality in the Assembly. The Conservative Party, led by MP for Sutton Coldfield Andrew Mitchell, made a strong showing with 21 seats. The Liberal Democrats, led by the (successful) candidate for Birmingham Yardley John Hemming, managed to do unexpectedly well winning 11 seats. A further one seat was won by the Eurosceptic and far-right UK Independence Party, or UKIP, and two seats were won by the Green Party. In the aftermath of the election, Siôn Simon formed a minority administration after the failure of the Conservatives to form an opposing coalition with Liberal Democratic support.

The Conservatives won around 3% more than they achieved in the same area in the general election, with most of this taken from the Labour Party. A YouGov exit poll found that 89% of voters voted for the same party for the local elections, general election and assembly election.

Background
The West Midlands Assembly referendum campaign was widely regarded as a 'prelude' to any potential election campaign if the referendum were to pass. Initially seen as a doomed referendum, activism led by Siôn Simon managed to successfully turn the tide in favour of the 'Yes WM Can' campaign which ultimately won the referendum, despite defeats in Staffordshire, Cornwall and East Anglia on the same day.

The fact that the election was being held in line with the simultaneous general election caused some speculation that this would benefit the Labour Party, who traditionally performed well in general elections in the county and in council elections also to be held that day.

Parties
Following the agreement for an election to be held in 2005, each party nominated a list of candidates and also selected a party leader to stand for First Minister.

Labour
Since the beginning of the referendum campaign, Siôn Simon was widely considered the frontrunner for West Midlands Labour leader and, by extension, First Minister. The reluctance of several of his colleagues to campaign actively for what was seen as a doomed campaign damaged their chances of success. Liam Byrne 'was considering' running, according to Birmingham Mail on December 13th: however, he ultimately decided against a run, endorsing Simon. Ultimately a leadership election was not held, with Simon being selected as leader of the West Midlands Labour Party and thus the 1st Labour candidate on their list. Other list candidates included Byrne, Richard Burden (MP for Birmingham Northfield), Bob Ainsworth (MP for Coventry North East) and several prominent councillors.

Conservative
The Conservative Party had been staunchly against any devolution in the West Midlands, and no MP in the county openly supported it or considered a run for Conservative leader in the assembly. Once more only one candidate stood for leader, MP Andrew Mitchell. Hence, he was nominated to be leader.

Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats had been in support of devolution and were anticipating success at the 2005 elections. Both of their candidates for leader were also both PPCs, and would succeed in being elected as MPs: John Hemming, candidate for Birmingham Yardley, and Lorely Burt, candidate for Solihull.

John Hemming won the subsequent leadership election with 62.1% of the vote: around a quarter of his support came from Birmingham Yardley alone.

UK Independence Party
The UK Independence Party stood at this election. Their leader and first list selection was announced as Mike Nattrass, who in 2004 had become an MEP for the West Midlands.

Green Party
The Green Party nominated Ian Jamieson as their party leader, an activist and often a candidate for the party.

Campaign
The campaign was dominated by the devolution issue. Siôn Simon attempted to show himself as the champion of the West Midlands and the man who had delivered a 'Yes' verdict in the referendum, while Andrew Mitchell contrasted himself by showing himself as, according to the BBC: 'a gentle transitional hand, one to stand up to Westminster while ensuring devolution does not go too far'. With the exception of UKIP, no party campaigned openly against the Assembly: UKIP positioned itself in staunch opposition to 'a radical superstate from Brussels and a radical assembly from Birmingham'.

Siôn Simon's ability
The media placed a great deal of attention on Siôn Simon, widely considered to be the certain first First Minister of the region, and his abilities under 'his administration in waiting'. Simon's icy relations with the Prime Minister was heavily reported upon, with some sources even reporting him wishing for Blair to resign. Blair's reluctance to actively campaign in the West Midlands during the campaign for the general election was noted: his only visit to the region was to Telford, which was outside of the West Midlands county. Simon was criticised by Ian Jamieson as 'not caring about the climate crisis' after saying that he would not oppose a plan for a potential high-speed railway through the region.

Blair administration
The vast majority of voters based their vote on who they were voting for during the general election. Only 11% of voters did not vote for the same party for councillor, MP and Assembly Member. As such, Blair's re-election campaign also dominated the campaign. Michael Howard, Leader of the Opposition, actively campaigned for Mitchell and blasted Blair on the state of healthcare in the nation. Simon returned the attack by publishing advertisements praising the Blair economy. In particular, Hemming attacked Blair on the Iraq War, a national major issue for the Liberal Democrats: this proved successful, with around 37% of Liberal Democratic voters citing the War as their primary issue.

Opinion polling and predictions
See Opinion polls for the 2005 West Midlands Assembly election

Results
The BBC's exit poll at 10PM predicted the Labour Party at 24 seats and the Conservatives at 23. This exit poll overestimated the Conservatives and underestimated third parties, particularly UKIP and the Greens. The surprise result was praised by the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, despite their failure to unseat Blair in the general election. Labour swept every authority in the region with the exception of Solihull and, in an upset, Dudley. In Solihull, the Liberal Democrats gained second place with a strong showing in Birmingham thanks to their picking up of one constituency in each of those authorities.