MEP Gill bids to be Labour candidate for mayor
MEP Neena Gill is to apply become Labour’s candidate mayor of the West Midlands.
If she is successful, she will stand against the sitting Conservative Mayor, Andy Street, in the 2020 West Midlands mayoral election.
But Ms Gill may face a battle against other local Labour figures for the right to be the party’s candidate.
It has been reported that Dudley councillor Pete Lowe, a former leader of the authority, might also throw his hat into the ring.
Birmingham Hodge Hill MP Liam Byrne) is also said to be considering applying to become the Labour candidate.
So far every elected regional mayor has been a man. As well as Mr Street they include Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester, and Steve Rotheram in the Liverpool City Region.
Tyneside councillor Norma Redfearn has been appointed interim mayor of a “North of Tyne” com- to for bined authority, covering Newcastle and the surrounding area, but this is a temporary arrangement until elections take place.
Ms Gill, a former housing association chief executive, was an MEP from 1999 to 2009, and was elected to the European Parliament again in 2014.
A friend said: “She feels that we can’t just end up with another man.
“She’s been a regional ambassador and representative for the region. She worked across the whole of the region as an MEP, and none of the other candidates have that experience.
“She has worked closely with the national party, which will give her an ability to get the region’s voice heard nationally.
“This is the expertise Labour needs to move forward and beat Andy Street, who hasn’t delivered for the West Midlands.”
Ms Gill was born in the Punjab, in northern India, and her family emigrated to the UK when she was ten.
She once said: “My parents arrived in the UK with £3 each, no home and no jobs. It’s a classic migrant story.”
Labour has not yet confirmed when it will begin choosing a candidate, but the process is expected to start after local elections in May. Labour activists in the region are involved in selecting their party’s candidate, while voters across the region take part in the election of the mayor.
Mr Street will also need to go through a selection process to be confirmed as the Conservative candidate. However, as the incumbent, this is expected to be little more than a formality.
Other parties are also, of course, expected to stand candidates. In the first West Midlands mayoral election, in 2017, there were candidates from the Liberal Democrats, Green Party, UKIP and Communist Party of Britain.
Mr Street and Labour candidate Sion Simon were the front-runners, receiving 82 per cent of all first preference votes between them.
It was considered to be something of an upset when Mr Street won, and Conservatives were jubilant. The next election is likely to be a hardfought contest.