George Osborne
George Osborne has indicated Birmingham could have an elected mayor covering the city area rather than the wider West Midlands region.
The Chancellor told parliament that talks would need to take place with the city’s civic leaders and MPs about which plan to pursue, although he added the move to a mayoral model could be “perhaps just in the city”.
Greater Manchester is the first area to benefit from Mr Osborne’s proposals to give cities greater freedoms and more powers, including an elected “metro mayor”.
He also said he was open to discussions with any metropolitan area wishing to follow Manchester’s lead to reduce the “decades old gap between North and South”.