Five pledges from new Mayor of West Midlands on first day

The new mayor of the West Midlands, Richard Parker, has started work after a 'rollercoaster' election with a pledge to fast-track the building of 5,000 social homes in his first year. It would be his top priority amid the scandal of thousands of families stranded in B&Bs and poor quality temporary accommodation, he said.

Also in his sights are his plans to:

• Bring the region's buses into public control within three years

• Launch a skills revolution to create vital jobs and apprenticeships

• A radical revamp of how the mayor's office operates, with stronger community links across the region

• A 'hotdesk' inside a future Labour Government's Cabinet where he would be invited to provide updates from the region and directly influence policy

READ MORE: Andy Street out as mayor of West Midlands as Labour's Richard Parker snatches wafer-thin victory

But he strongly intends to use his new role to kickstart the biggest 'social housing building programme this region has seen in 40 years." "I want to change lives," he said.

Mr Parker arrived at work this morning and quickly moved into his new fourth-floor office, all signs of its previous incumbent Andy Street already removed. There was a brief embarrassing moment ahead of this morning's press call when Mr Street arrived to collect some belongings, ducking the waiting cameras by disappearing into a side door.

But otherwise, it was all about the new starter. He toured the office with Chief Executive Laura Shoaf, meeting staff in the strategy and media teams that he will be working closely with from today. Mr Parker also viewed the regional transport network hub and CCTV set-up and vowed to take advice from and work closely with staff at all levels as he beds into his new role.

Mr Parker has already been inundated with calls to prioritise a range of issues - from active travel to clean air, from more apprenticeships to child poverty. He said he would now be working with officers to determine what staff were needed to help fulfil his political ambitions. "I will be talking and listening to people and will ensure the responses from this office and other political offices across the region address those many concerns. It will be about collaboration and then responding and delivery," he said.

But tellingly his first commitment was to attend a social event.

On Gaza, he said that 'people had spoken' by backing alternative candidate Akhmed Yakoob, though he said he had been clear and consistent in calling for a ceasefire. He tweeted earlier today: "The situation in Rafa is very worrying. An Israeli offensive must not go ahead. There must be an end to the loss of innocent lives...there should immediately be a ceasefire, the release of hostages and aid should be allowed into Gaza."

Housing promises

Mr Parker was put on the spot over his housing promises when he attended the Birmingham Citizens UK Accountability Assembly last month. In response to their pleas for action on social housing, he said he would work with housing associations and local authorities to address the dire shortages - with 5,000 in year one, and 2,000 a year after that.

Asked about that pledge today, he said he absolutely intended to use a £250m pot of housing funding he had inherited 'entirely to kickstart social housing'. The best way to do that involves teaming up with housing association partners with development plans who are 'standing ready to go', he said.

"We have got 64,000 people on a waiting list for social housing, and 20,000 families in sometimes poor quality temporary accommodation. We have to act."

He said the campaign had proved to him how much it meant for the party and its campaigners locally and nationally. They worked closely together, from start to finish, and gave it everything, he said.

"On the 2nd May 71,000 doors were knocked across the region by Labour supporters, and that is a phenomenal achievement and shows how much this victory was wanted. I got a real sense of how important it was for us regionally and as a party that we succeeded - I was so happy for so many people who had put so much into this - seeing it mean as much to them as to me was very moving and humbling."

'Emotional rollercoaster'

He said he had been on an 'emotional rollercoaster' from polling day on Thursday (May 2) to the moment he finally learned he had secured the mayoralty at just after 9pm on Saturday.

"There was an element of surprise but obviously I was very happy and pleased. There had been this uncertainty from Thursday onwards, we always knew it was going to be very close, but not on the knife edge it was. (Looking back at the photos) I was not particularly smiling much, I think because the process had taken so long, and there was an enormous amount of relief.

"But from pretty soon after the declaration, within half an hour, my mind was focused on starting the job properly."

He said he had managed to enjoy a celebration on Saturday night with his team - "some of the younger ones stayed longer but sadly I had to be up early!" he added. Then on Sunday afternoon, he had a brief moment of reflection walking on the Lickey Hills, a favourite haunt, with his wife. "Sadly they had run out of ice cream in the shop," he added.

READ MORE: Labour mayor candidate Richard Parker's five key manifesto pledges

INSIDE BIRMINGHAM: Want to know what's really going on inside Birmingham's corridors of power? Sign up to my newsletter

Parker, 60, a former partner at financial and public services specialists PriceWaterhouseCooper (PWC), took the fight to the popular Conservative incumbent Mr Street, who has been mayor since the post was created in 2017.

He has spoken of the values that defined him growing up as a working-class lad in Bristol, and his role in helping create the West Midlands Combined Authority that he now leads in our extended pre-election interview. You can read it in full here: Labour's Richard Parker shakes off 'unknown' tag in bid to be Mayor of West Midlands