The West Midlands has suffered a dispiriting decline in private sector employment since Labour came to power, the legacy of falling employment in manufacturing combined with the region’s failure to compensate with a large enough expansion in private services.

Between 1998 and 2006 manufacturing shed 40,000 jobs. That was the result of plant closures and of greater industrial efficiency that helped many businesses survive. Meanwhile, employment in health, social work and public services rose by 126,000.