Mayor of the West Midlands | |
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West Midlands Combined Authority | |
Style | Mayor [1] |
Member of | West Midlands Combined Authority |
Seat | 16 Summer Lane, Birmingham |
Appointer | Electorate of West Midlands by first past the post |
Term length | 4 years |
Constituting instrument | Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 |
Inaugural holder | Andy Street |
Formation | 8 May 2017 |
Deputy | TBA |
Salary | £79,000 [2] |
Website | West Midlands Combined Authority - The Mayor |
The Mayor of the West Midlands is a directly elected political post who chairs the West Midlands Combined Authority, covering the local authorities serving Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
The most recent election took place on Thursday 2 May 2024. Richard Parker took his post as Mayor after defeating former encumbent Andy Street by 1,508 votes. [3]
The previous election was delayed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, [4] so the inaugural mayoral term was extended by a year, with the second term length being reduced to three years between 2021 and 2024. The Mayor's term of office will return to four years from 2024 thereafter. [5]
The Mayor has devolved compulsory purchase powers and is responsible for the West Midlands spatial framework and land commission.
The Mayor is responsible for franchised bus services, allowing for standardised fares and branding on all bus services in the county, similar to how London's bus network operates. [6] The Mayor is also responsible for the West Midlands Key Route Network, which is managed by Transport for West Midlands on behalf of the Mayor. [7]
The Mayor is responsible for ensuring that the first devolution deal is put into action and acts on behalf of the region in negotiating future devolution deals with central government. [8]
The Mayor was to be vested with the police and crime commissioner functions for the West Midlands Police area from 7 May 2024. Due to a appeal by the current west Midlands PCC the PCC powers will now not be given to the west Midlands mayor. [9]
Colour key (for political parties) |
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Name | Picture | Term of office | Elected | Political party | Previous occupations | ||
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Andy Street | 8 May 2017 | 5 May 2024 | 2017 2021 | Conservative | Former managing director of John Lewis | ||
Richard Parker | 6 May 2024 | Incumbent | 2024 | Labour |
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Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services in the West Midlands metropolitan county in England. It is an executive body of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), with bus franchising and highway management powers similar to Transport for London. TfWM's policies and strategy are set by the Transport Delivery Committee of the WMCA.
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A combined authority (CA) is a type of local government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. CAs are created voluntarily and allow a group of local authorities to pool appropriate responsibility and receive certain devolved functions from central government in order to deliver transport and economic policy more effectively over a wider area. In areas where local government is two-tier, both must participate in the combined authority.
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Andrew John Street is a British businessman and Conservative Party politician who was the managing director of John Lewis from 2007 to 2016 and Mayor of the West Midlands from 2017 to 2024. He was Britain's first openly gay directly-elected metro mayor. Street won the May 2017 mayoral election, defeating Siôn Simon with 50.4% of the vote in the second round. He was re-elected in 2021, defeating Labour candidate Liam Byrne. He sought a third term in 2024 but was narrowly defeated by Labour candidate Richard Parker.
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