Is Dudley Reform’s Detroit ?

William Cash | 25th February 2026 | Comment, Politics

Richard Tice and Nigel Farage at the USP Steel plant in Dudley, West Midlands. Photo by Ryan Jenkinson/Getty Images)

On the eve of the Gorton and Denton by-election, The Mace reports from the Black Country on why the Midlands vote matters for all parties

That Richard Tice chose to give his first speech as Reform’s ‘Shadow’ Business, Trade and Energy Secretary (and don’t forget the housing) at the UPS Steels factory, near Dudley, in the industrial heartland of the West Midlands ‘Black Country’, was no coincidence. Nor was it chance that Reform hosted their 2024 conference at the Birmingham NEC, as well as their breakthrough 2025 conference – with its Heathrow Airport Business Lounge and record number of corporates. Nor was it any surprise when Nigel Farage decided to host a 2500 strong party ‘rally’ in Birmingham (NEC again) in February to announce his general election candidates list was open, and have his ‘Magnificent Seven’ MPs interviewed ‘live’ by Jeremy Kyle. This is because the Midlands will decide the next government. Should Reform seize control of Birmingham City Council on May 7th, it will make Farage the new King of the Midlands, just as Alfred the Great, in the 9th century, used his...

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