Mayoral hopefuls go head to head
The candidates for West Midlands Mayor faced off in front of a packed crowd in the region’s first major mayoral hustings debate.
The Question Time-style event took place at the Black Country Living Museum’s Workers’ Institute and was hosted by the Express & Star.
Labour’s Siôn Simon, Conservative Andy Street, UKIP’s Pete Durnell, Lib Dem Beverley Nielsen, and the Green Party’s James Burn gave their mayoral pitches, before facing a series of testing questions from readers.
Topics broached issues including why the region needs a mayor, plans to improve transport, solving the housing shortage in the West Midlands and the potential for the nationalisation of the M6 Toll. Express & Star editor Keith Harrison, who chaired the hustings, said: “This was a fantastic event, which gave our readers the chance to quiz the mayoral hopefuls about their policies.
“The Black Country Living Museum was the perfect venue for a debate that really put the region under the spotlight.”
Last night’s event was broadcast live on Facebook and featured business leaders and politicians from across the Black Country in the audience.
It was the first of four key hustings events ahead of the election for the region’s first Metro Mayor on May 4. Coventry Cathedral will host the second debate on March 22, with the final two taking place at Birmingham Hippodrome on April 4, and Resorts World Birmingham at the NEC complex on April 23.
The position of Mayor will control a budget of £36 million a year and have responsibility for housing, transport, economic development, skills, mental health provision and business growth.
The Mayor will lead the West Midlands Combined Authority, which was formed last year and consists of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Coventry and Solihull.
See tomorrow’s Express & Star for full coverage of the event.
