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The West Midlands Labour Party mayoral selection of 2016 was the process by which the Labour Party selected its candidate for Mayor of the West Midlands, to stand in the mayoral election on 4 May 2017.
The selection took place amid the backdrop of the 2016 Labour Leadership election, with Simon being a close friend and ally of Tom Watson, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, who had been calling for incumbent Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn to step down. Steve Bedser pitched to Corbyn supporters, expressing his support for Corbyn, whilst simultaneously stating that Corbyn needed to improve his performance. [1] On 10 August 2016, Simon was announced as the winning candidate.
Name | Born | Current/previous positions | Announced candidacy | Campaign website (Slogan) |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Siôn Simon |
23 December 1968 (age 55) |
Member of the European Parliament |
May 2016 [2] [3] [4] |
sion-simon.com #Team Siôn (Uniting the West Midlands) |
Steve Bedser |
August 1965 (age 58) |
Businessman
Birmingham Council Cabinet member for Health and Well Being |
June 2016 [7] |
The results of the selection were announced on 10 August 2016. A total of 3,817 valid votes were cast. [10]
Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
---|---|---|---|
Siôn Simon | 2,718 | 71.21% | |
Steve Bedser | 1,099 | 28.79% |