Richard Parker elected as Mayor of the West Midlands

Richard Parker has been elected as Mayor of the West Midlands.

The Labour Party candidate was declared winner of the Mayoral election following the count at the International Convention Centre, Birmingham this evening (Saturday May 4).

Mr Parker, who runs his own small business and is a qualified public finance accountant, will serve as Mayor for the next four years and as chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and its cabinet of the seven metropolitan West Midlands council leaders.

Following the declaration, Mr Parker said: ““What a privilege it is to lead the West Midlands Combined Authority.

“I’m looking forward to getting to work, delivering my policies and my pledges and being a voice for the West Midlands nationally and internationally.

“This is the honour of my lifetime and I won’t let you down.”

The election, on Thursday May 2, saw votes cast in Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton. A total of 596,976 votes were counted. The turnout was 29.8 per cent.

Mr Parker secured victory over Conservative candidate and incumbent Mayor Andy Street by 1,508 votes. Mr Street had served two terms as Mayor.

Having a West Midlands Mayor is a key part of the devolution deal struck between the WMCA and Government in 2016, giving the region and its elected politicians greater powers and control over how funding should be spent.

Mr Parker will have responsibility for some of the biggest issues affecting the lives of around 2.8m people in the West Midlands.

His powers include control over long-term budgets from central government to:

• Work with business leaders to drive the region's economic growth
• Improve transport
• Increase house building and regeneration across the region
• Improve job and skills

As Mayor, Mr Parker will also lobby Government and act as an advocate and ambassador on the global stage, championing the West Midlands and the issues that matter most to local people.

The results were:

Richard Parker (Labour) – 225,590

Andy Street (Conservative) – 224,082

Akhmed Yakoob (Independent) – 69,621

Elaine Williams (Reform UK) – 34,471

Siobhan Harper-Nunes (Green) – 31,036

Sunny Virk (Liberal Democrat) – 12,176