Birmingham Erdington MP, Sion Simon, has announced he will step down from parliament and as a minister to pursue ambitions to become the city’s first mayor.
The creative industries minister said it was clear the answers to city’s problems did not lie in Westminster or Whitehall. ‘We need to take back control of our own city,’ he urges.
‘We cannot leave our future to London. They have not looked after our past. We need strong, dynamic leadership with streamlined decision-making powers.
‘The current 19th-century arrangements give us neither. The City Council, as an institution, is not fit for purpose in the 21st century.
Mr Simon says elected mayors will be introduced for major cities in the next Parliament and he has put himself forward to stand as the Labour candidate.
‘I hope that Birmingham people will see this as my badge of commitment to the city.’
