MBE

MBE In Queens Birthday Honours List For Phil 14th June 2004

Phil Bateman has been awarded the MBE in the recently announced Queens Birthday honours list. Phil who was born in Montreal Quebec Canada received news of the award whilst competing in the Wolverhampton City Council elections on June 10th.


Councillor Bateman retained the seat of Wednesfield North which he has represented on both the former West Midlands County Council and latterly on the Wolverhampton City Council… after a tense day of voting.

Councillor Bateman said “I am delighted to hold my seat and even further delighted to be awarded the MBE for services to transport. I have been working hard for months now to get re-elected and all that hard work has proven very successful. I want to thank my constituents in Wednesfield North for having so much faith in me, and returning both me and my running mate Councillor Dave Jones, to the City Council.

The honours do not stop there and I am looking forward to becoming Wolverhampton City Councils first Canadian Deputy Mayor later this month.

My family in Canada are over the moon with the success that I have achieved; now I hope to re-pay everyone’s trust in me by working even harder to make Wolverhampton City an even better place than it is now.”

Councillor Bateman’s family hailed originally from Wolverhampton then during the early 1920’s they emigrated to Canada, where they settled in Montreal. As the family grew they then moved out of Montreal spreading into Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, and Calgary. There are now over 100 relatives right across Canada.

Phil’s father Tom Bateman chose to return to England in the Army during the second World War and after the war was over married his wife Eileen whom he met in London, in Wolverhampton, the City where he was born. They then emmigrated to Canada where their two children Phil and Eileen were born in Montreal. They returned to England in 1957,due to family reasons.

Phil was educated in Wednesfield and won his first Council seat in 1981 on the former WMCC; in 1984 he was returned for the first time to Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council. He was further returned to the Council in 1988 losing the elections in 1992 he returned to win the seat in 1994 again 1998, 2002 and 2004 where he now will sit for a further 4 year term.

A former Chair of the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority and the Association of Metropolitan Authorities Transport Committee. Phil has been instrumental in the development of Light Rail Transit in the County.

The award of the MBE for services to the transport industry in the West Midlands recognises the role he has played in developing transit. He is currently the Corporate Affairs Director of Travel West Midlands the regions biggest bus company, and the operator of Travel Midland Metro.

He is the well known face of public transport and is the press and media spokesperson for sister companies at Travel Dundee, and Travel London.






West Midlands Travel is a company owned by the giant National Express Group which has bus & train interest in the UK, USA, Australia and Canada.







Print News Item Author: Phil Bateman