Christopher Pincher and David Willetts MP with motor engineering students in their custom racing car

Tamworth College welcomed the Shadow Secretary of State for Universities and Skills, David Willetts, as he visited the Tamworth campus with Tamworth’s Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman, Christopher Pincher.

During the visit the pair met both college staff and students including Charlotte Burford who won a bronze medal at the World Skills final in Calgary, Canada, hair stylist students and the builders of the colleges race car in the garage.

David Willetts said:

“I was delighted to visit the college in Croft Street and talk to staff and students and see what the college has to offer.  We want to support colleges like this to be more flexible in the way they provide their services so that the staff at the sharp end and not the bureaucrats in the QUANGOs make the decisions.”

The Shadow Secretary was invited by the Tamworth Conservatives to show what Tamworth has to offer, especially as unemployment in the town has doubled in the last year.

Christopher Pincher said:

“David Willetts visited Tamworth at our invitation so he could see the talent our town has to offer.  Tamworth’s unemployment doubled between 2008 and 2009 so we desperately need to use education as a means of helping people find good jobs.  There was a real enthusiasm amongst the students, particularly amongst the motor engineering students, which was tremendous to see.  I really enjoyed meeting them and getting to sit in their customised racing car.”

Prime Minister Gordon Brown - Pic: Downing Street

Prime Minister Gordon Brown today paid what can only be described as a surprise visit to Tamworth today, Thursday 21 May.

Reports from around the town suggest that he visited local businesses including Percy Lane Products and gave a speech at Tamworth College.

We here at Tamworth Blog are still digging out details on the PM’s visit.  However it appears that the Prime Ministers speech was greeted with boo’s at the end of his speech with one Tamworth twitterer saying:

“gordon brown was at tamworth college speaking to students today and got boooooed at the end of his speech”