Labour selects its candidate for West Midlands mayoral election

FORMER MP and current MEP Siôn Simon has been selected as the Labour Party candidate for the West Midlands mayoral election after being backed by 71% of the party’s members.

He received 2,718 votes, defeating former Birmingham councillor Steve Bedser who got 1,099.

Mr Simon was MP for Birmingham Erdington for nine years until 2010 when he stood down to campaign for an elected mayor.

The proposal was defeated in a referendum in 2012 and Mr Simon went on to be elected as an MEP in the 2014 European elections.

The Mayoral elections are being held in several UK cities on May 4, 2017. The West Midlands mayor will be responsible for the West Midlands Combined Authority area, which includes the seven council areas of Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Dudley, Solihull, Sandwell and Walsall.

The Conservative Party is yet to name its candidate, but John Lewis managing director and Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP chairman Andy Street is understood to be considering running.