YAM-YAM's AM WE

Historically Birmingham and its very near neighbour the Black Country have enjoyed a close but separate existence. Birmingham's reputation as the workshop of the world was underpinned by the coal and steel supplied from the Black Country. Withe the massive transformation of their economies in the 1980's and 90's there is no doubt that Birmingham recovered a sense of purpose much more quickly than the Black Country becoming the thriving multicultural centre it is today.

The Black Country has always had very close communities despite the view from Birmingham that everybody in the Black Country is a Yam-Yam. For those unfortunate enough not to come from Birmingham or the Black Country, Yam-Yam is an affectionate onomatopoeic term for us Black Country folk based on the sound of our accent. Local history experts however tell us that the tightness of each local community in the Black Country is such that each small community generated its own accent. Indeed it is said that even communities in such close proximity as Bilston and Bradley or Dudley and Gornal had distinctive local dialects.

It was the strength of these local communities that held the place together in the dark days of the industrial restructuring in the 1980's. Today whilst many people think that Birmingham needs to rediscover a sense of purpose the Black Country has been quietly breaking out of those tight communities and getting on with it.

The four Black Country Boroughs, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton have been working on Black Country wide development plans which have begun to change both the perception and the destiny of this important sub-region. Today this sense of renewal is well represented in Gordon Browns new Government.

The man with Gordon's ear, his Parliamentary Private Secretary is Dudley North MP, Ian Austin. Ian cut his political teeth on Dudley Council before becoming the press officer for the Regional Labour Party progressing by replacing the infamous Charlie Whelan as Gordon Brown's press spokesman before becoming the MP for the town in which he lived.

Across in West Bromwich we have Tom Watson, from Kidderminster, former curry house plotter; now given the responsibility of protecting Labour's majority in the government whips office. Tom has found his true vocation; his skills have always been in organisation, firstly, with Young Labour, then in the Engineers Union, before being one of Labour's key by-election specialists, he is currently working in Ealing Southall, indeed Liam Byrne MP now 'Mr West Midlands' owes a his by-election victory in large part to Tom's hard work in Hodge Hill.

In Wolverhampton South East we have Pat McFadden, another rising star on of the few who worked in No 10 to have been on good terms with the Blairites and the Brownites.Edinburgh University educated Pat first made a name for himself by being one of the most effective members of John Smith's team before going onto work in government with Tony Blair. He was spotted by 'Lord Bilston, Dennis Turner, the towns longstanding MP. For many Bilstonians Dennis was a Lord long before he received the official confirmation. Dennis is a shrewd politician who was aware that his beloved constituency had gone through a fundamental change and that nostalgia for a past industrial glory was not going to equip Wolverhampton to compete in this new world.

Pat is now Minister of State at the new Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. An important set of issues for many businesses across the Black Country.

The last member of the quartet is Ian Pearson MP. One of the few MP's to represent the constituency in which he was born, another who cut his political teeth on Dudley Council but who has a few years extra parliamentary experience than his colleagues having come into the house following the Labour landslide in the Dudley West by-election. Ian, a Brierley Hill Grammar School boy, who has a reputation for being rather clever, with his Oxford degree and Masters and a Doctorate from Warwick University, did have a life before politics being joint Chief Executive of the West Midlands Enterprise Board.

Today Ian is Minister of State in the new Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills, with responsibility for Science. A Black Country lad responsible for the nations science!

As an unapologetic Yam-Yam I feel that it is great to see so many high fliers being attracted to a place that once exported its best talent and to see Black Country MP's making the decisions rather than just making up the numbers. After all the Black Country is and important place with a population larger than Birmingham, Leeds or Manchester or for that matter Edinburgh and Glasgow added together.

At last it is getting the kind of political representation it deserves. This quartet certainly have the youth, energy and intelligence on their side to be able to turn that Black Country marketing slogan from rhetoric into reality - Black Country Bright Future.

Nick Matthews is a Son of Wednesbury or 'Ikea Junction Nine' as it is now known.