Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner

Sep 30 2008 By Karren Brady

BIRMINGHAM is close to my heart in a way that only migrants can appreciate. Its trouble may be that native Brummies don’t love it as they should or as much as we do.

I’m a Londoner by birth and upbringing, a sort of accidental dweller in the West Midlands, landing here nearly 15 years ago because the football club was for sale.

I don’t know quite what I expected then, but I entered as an ambitious young woman bursting with ideas that would shatter the provincial malaise that had settled on St Andrew’s.

Now, when I compare the merits of the capital and Birmingham, I’m surprised to discover that rather than the centre of the civilized world, London for the most part is dirty, unattractive and without a chance of providing for the vast majority of its citizens the quality of life available on the doorstep in Birmingham.

It was my belief in David Cameron’s ‘Plan for Change’ government that persuaded me to welcome the Tory party conference to the city on Sunday. It’s wonderful to see that the Tories do not believe that London is all there is to England.

So my speech at the conference was for Birmingham and I even ignored having a tilt at Manchester which, some who attended the Labour conference told me, offered modest staging and intrusive security compared with the ICC. I suppose we could have guessed that beforehand.

It was a brilliant showcase for the city and I was delighted to remind delegates that my pride in it extended beyond the Blues “... because Aston Villa are quite good too!”

But that’s not it about Birmingham.

Boasting about our sports events and achievements, about our venues and our orchestra, our theatres, our industrial skills, our culture and our thriving nightlife are what people have a right to expect in a huge city.

What sets us apart – and it takes a late-comer to say this – has always been our willingness to work hard, to turn our hands to anything, and, latterly, to take municipal risks.

The NEC was that, so was the ICC and the re-construction of a shopping centre to rival any in any city in the world.

Maybe it was pride in such enterprise that made the dinner on Sunday evening feel more like Las Vegas than the Hyatt on Broad Street.

The next stride? I hope the council and my club can emphasise the city’s international status with a state-of-the-art stadium for 50,000 not only for football but for hosting a Commonwealth Games.

Not as the Second City, either. I’m enough of a Brummie now to hate that tag. My city has a bigger aim – to be the best there is.