UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 05 APRIL 2017
Candidates competing for the new role of West Midlands Mayor will go head-to-head next week as part of a public debate at Birmingham City University.
The event, hosted in partnership with Bosch UK and West Midlands Combined Universities, will take place at the University’s Parkside Building on Wednesday 12 April.
All six official candidates will join the panel which will be chaired by ITV Central News presenter Bob Warman, who will quiz each of them on their policies and their vision for the future.
The final list of candidates is:
- James Burn (Green Party)
- Pete Durnell (UKIP)
- Beverley Nielsen (Liberal Democrats)
- Graham Stevenson (Communist Party)
- Sion Simon (Labour)
- Andy Street (Conservative Party)
The West Midlands will officially head to the polls on Thursday 4 May to decide on which of the six candidates will take up the position.
The Mayor will be handed major powers for the West Midlands on key issues such as housing, transport and skills, and will play a key role in attracting investment to the West Midlands.
The positon was a central part of the devolution deal handed down from government to allow regions to make more decisions locally and the successful candidate will serve a similar function to that of Sadiq Khan in London.
Jeff Wiredu, Vice President of Student Development at Birmingham City University’s Students Union said:
The event is free to attend and open to the public.