The Stirrer’s Mayoral Blog

5,000 AND COUNTING AS CHINN SIGNS UP

30-06-2007

Carl Chinn’s decision to back the Birmingham Mail’s demand for a mayoral referendum will give fresh impetus to a campaign which has already attracted more than 5,000 certified signatures.

If the poll ever comes about, Chinn himself would be considered a prime candidate; a “salt of the earth” Brummie known to everyone in the city he has a populist touch lacking in some of the other names put forward.

There again, he also lacks the political experience of some of his likely rivals, and the radicalism of some of his views might well frighten some potential voters who regard him simply as “Cuddly Carl”.

Make no mistake about it, Chinny is an old school socialist and in a rough, tough election his views would be scrutinised as never before.

Some may quibble at his chummy Brummie persona, but thousands would back him on the strength of his personality and undoubted passion for the area.

This is all assuming he wants to stand, of course - though we reckon that he could be persuaded if he felt he had a chance of winning.

Before that though, the Mail and its supporters have to generate the 36,000 signatures needed to trigger a vote - and our sources suggest that while progress has been made, there’s still a long way to go.

We understand that at least 5,000 people have put their name to the petition and had their signatures validated.

It’s possible that the true figure is more than double and possibly even treble that with various organisations such as the Birmingham Community Empowerment Network now canvassing their members.

But how many more of the “big guns” are there left to wheel out?