| RUSSELL LUCKOCK Like them or loathe them, don’t waste this vital vote
disdain by many. However, he has highlighted this as a strength – business people are used to chains of command, issuing orders which are obeyed by underlings. Politicians have to be persuasive, build coalitions, gather consensus and negotiate to get their way and he has proved himself in this field he argued.
Of the others, Lib Dem Beverley Nielsen and UKIP’s Pete Durnell have highlighted their backgrounds in the results-driven business environment.
Green James Burn is a social worker who has dealt with the city’s most vulnerable people and Communist Graham Stevenson is an experienced union official.
Supporters of the two front-runners are both trying to portray the other as members of the hated elite.
Street comes from the rarified corporate world where he rubs shoulders with other millionaires, city investors and Tory donors.
Simon was part of the New Labour political elite who ran the country for 13 years alongside the likes of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Tom Watson and various union barons while writing columns for the Spectator and Daily Telegraph. Neither is an outsider.
Where the dividing line is most stark is how they will approach the job of mayor – in particular in dealing with the likely Government headed by Theresa May.
Both have realised that the job is not about its powers, but about the influence, the soft power and the ability to negotiate a better deal from Government, woo investors and pull various communities and public and private agencies along with them.
That is why Simon can shout about Villa Park hosting international football matches and Street can call for the return of the Superprix road race and both can champion the bids to bring Channel 4 and the Commonwealth Games to Birmingham.
The mayor is the kind of figure who can put these ideas forward and see what can be achieved.
This is something the sorry patchwork of council leaders and unelected business investment groups who currently make up the West Midlands Combined Authority cannot do.
Devolution was a project championed by George Osborne and, although the Government has so far stuck to his agenda, it may not be as high a priority now he is out of the picture.
So the mayor could have his or her work cut out prising a better deal out of Whitehall – and that is where their approach will be crucial.
Street enjoys such a close relationship with Theresa May and Government, he will have the cabinet on speed dial. They will be more open to his ideas.
But he has been portrayed by rivals as the London Government’s agent in the Midlands. Given a conflict of interest between the Government and West Midlands, he will simply toe the party line, they suggest.
In contrast, Simon has pitched his entire campaign as the mayor who will fight for the West Midlands against a neglectful Government which has short-changed the English provinces for too long.
He will use the profile of mayor, and the mandate provided by thousands of voters, to demand a better deal and our fair share of investment and will stand up to Government (even a Corbyn one... in that unlikely event).
But opponents warn his ‘them and us’ rhetoric will only lead to doors being slammed in his face meaning he will achieve nothing.
Whichever side you plump for, the key for us – the people – is to make sure we exercise our vote.
We are getting a mayor and he or she will unlock cash and investment – like it or lump it.
The weak gesture of a spoilt ballot or a no-show at the polling station is, frankly, a waste of everybody’s time – it will change nothing.
Where the dividing line is most stark is how they will approach the job of mayor – in particular in dealing with the likely Government headed by Theresa May