West Midlands mayoral election, 2024
2 May 2024
 
Candidate Andy Street Richard Parker
Party Conservative Labour
Area covered by the mayor.
Incumbent Mayor

Andy Street
Conservative


The 2024 West Midlands mayoral election is scheduled to be held on 2 May 2024 to elect the mayor of the West Midlands. The election will take place on the same day as other local elections across England and Wales.

Background

The West Midlands is the second most populous city-region of the United Kingdom after Greater London.[1] The position of Mayor of the West Midlands was created in 2017 following a devolution agreement between the UK government and the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 required a directly elected "metro mayor" for combined authorities to receive additional powers from central government.[2] Under the terms of the devolution deal, the first mayoral term was set to last until 2020, followed by elections every four years.[3] In the inaugural election in 2017, the Conservative candidate Andy Street defeated Labour's Siôn Simon in the final round with 50.4% of the vote. Street was subsequently elected to a second term in 2021 (the election having been delayed a year due to the COVID 19 pandemic), defeating Labour candidate Liam Byrne in the final round with 54.0% of the vote.

Electoral system

This election will be the first to use first past the post to elect the mayor as a result of the changes made by the Elections Act 2022, with previous elections in 2017 and 2021 using the supplementary vote system.

All registered electors living the metropolitan boroughs of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, and Wolverhampton aged 18 or over will be entitled to vote in the mayoral election.

Candidates

Conservative Party

Andy Street, the incumbent mayor and former managing director of John Lewis & Partners, announced he would stand for re-election.[4]

Labour Party

The incumbent West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster, initially sought selection before dropping out after receiving only three nominations from local Constituency Labour Parties, while the former accountant Richard Parker received seventeen and the councillor and victims' commissioner Nicky Brennan received eight.[5][6] Parker went on to be selected on 14 April 2023 following a ballot of Labour members in the region.[7]

Parker worked at PwC from 1989 to 2015, leading on housing and communities and managing the company's relationship with the Labour shadow cabinet from 2010 to 2015. He started a business "working with SMEs and social enterprises on green investment, housing initiatives and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games" after leaving PwC.[8] He said that if elected mayor, he would take public control of the bus network, only give combined authority contracts that pay their staff well, and move the net zero deadline from 2041 to 2035.[8] He had been endorsed by most Labour MPs and senior Labour councillors in the region.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Estimates of the population for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  2. ↑ "Everything you need to know about metro mayors: an FAQ". Centre for Cities. 27 June 2016.
  3. ↑ Walker, Jonathan (19 July 2016). "West Midlands mayor to be elected on May 4 2017". BirminghamLive. Reach. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  4. ↑ Knowles, Kate. "Plans approved for Birmingham's old John Lewis store to be transformed into offices & foodhall". Birmingham World. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  5. ↑ Storer, Rhi. "Police and crime commissioner Simon Foster drops out of Labour mayor race". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  6. ↑ "Mayoral shortlist candidates revealed by Labour". The Business Desk. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  7. ↑ Neame, Katie. "Richard Parker selected as Labour candidate for West Midlands mayor". LabourList. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  8. 1 2 Neame, Katie (17 April 2023). "Richard Parker selected as Labour candidate for West Midlands mayor". LabourList. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  9. ↑ Haynes, Jane (14 April 2023). "Labour selects Richard Parker to try to oust Andy Street as West Midlands mayor". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
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