LABOUR has selected Siôn Simon MEP at its candidate for the West Midlands Mayoral election.

Former Erdington MP Mr Simon beat Steve Bedser in a member’s ballot to be chosen for the position.

Voters in Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton will go to the polls in May to elect the first ever West Midlands Mayor.

Mr Simon said: “I feel honoured and humbled by such an overwhelming mandate from West Midlands Labour Party members to lead our regional party into the first Mayoral election in May.

“That election is a vital opportunity - amid Tory austerity and Brexit chaos - to bring real Labour government to the West Midlands.

"We can do a better job of running our own region ourselves that the Tories ever have of running it from London.

"We in the West Midlands can show that under Labour growth and prosperity go hand in hand with social justice. It doesn’t have to be a choice, and in a Labour West Midlands it won’t be."

He added: “Let’s really invest in skills and apprenticeships. This region is a world leader in advanced manufacturing; it’s a great creative hub; we’re uniquely placed in biotech with our many great universities and our super-diverse population. We need not just more jobs, but better jobs, and better paid job. And this new devolution is a means to get them.

“We need a West Midlands voice in the Brexit discussions. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the City of London can’t be the only “special interests” at the table. The West Midlands is a £110 billion economy, and it’s one that Whitehall doesn’t understand. We need our case to be heard and our interests accounted for.

“Just as on HS2 and the further extension of devolution, we need a West Midlands voice speaking up for our region, and I intend to start now.

“And we must win the election in May. The heart of our campaign, as it always is, will be our party members and activists, led by our councillors, champions every one of them in their own communities. I’ve had fantastic support from Labour councillors at every level in every council in the region.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn MP backed Mr Simon's selection.

He said: “Congratulations to Siôn Simon on being selected Labour’s candidate to be the mayor of the West Midlands. We are very proud that a local person will be responsible for taking Labour’s message for social justice to the region’s four million voters in next year’s election.

"This will be an opportunity for Labour to set itself out as an alternative to this Tory government’s failure to invest in local communities and public services. It's crucial we have a mayor willing to do everything possible to improve the lives of everyone in the West Midlands and in Siôn Simon we have that candidate."

Tom Watson MP, Labour's deputy leader and MP for West Bromwich East, said: “The people of the West Midlands are looking for a figure who can unite us all, from the Black Country to Coventry, through Birmingham and Solihull. Siôn Simon, with his experience as a government minister, MP and MEP will bring this diverse region together to share a focussed plan for economic growth.

“As Labour's candidate for the new powerful position of West Midlands Mayor, Siôn Simon will help us plan new and vital transport infrastructure, build new homes and work with industry and business to equip workers with the skills to take the new jobs of the future.

“Siôn is a unifier, a big thinker and a strong leader. Every Labour member in the region will be campaigning to deliver a West Midlands Mayor that will, perhaps for the first time in our history, unify the whole of the region.”

The Conservative Party is yet to pick a candidate for the mayoral election, an early favourite is Birmingham's John Lewis supremo Andy Street.