I never wanted to be a politician. In fact I didn’t want to be a businessman either. I was determined to become a social worker, building on my experience of running holiday camps for disadvantaged children to give a helping hand to those less fortunate. But I was turned down.
What followed was 30 years of rising from shop floor to CEO at John Lewis. In my ten years at the helm I guided the business to become one of Britain’s most successful - and trusted - brands, and introduced the now beloved annual Christmas advert.
I grew up in Northfield and Solihull seeing the West Midlands being ripped apart, and left with a heavy heart at 18 thinking there was no life for me here. But this place gets into your blood like no other, and I just couldn’t stay away.
For years I continued to run the kids’ holiday camps - taking children from the West Midlands to the Welsh coast - and came back whenever I could to see my parents and friends.
I was determined to see this place do better, and said to myself that one day I would come back permanently and help ensure more people got to share in the opportunities this region gave me.
When the Mayoral job came up. I knew I had to give up my business career to go for it, but perhaps more importantly I knew I had to do it differently. Politics in this country is full of pettiness and conflict with division and grandstanding winning out over doing what’s best.
I was sure - at least for the West Midlands - I could change that. And you believed in me.
Since 2017 it has been the greatest honour of my life serving as your Mayor. Using my non-partisan, business-like approach, we have made huge strides.
With £10 billion of new investment we’ve opened new metro routes and train stations, built a record number of homes to become the UK leader in housebuilding, and created hundreds of thousands of quality jobs - alongside the introduction of a tenacious up-skilling programme - so people no longer have to move away for their career.
We’ve also faced the climate emergency head on, invested in our culture, and helped halve the number of rough sleepers on our streets.
This has been achieved through cross-party working, sound financial management with no Mayoral tax, and sticking to my number one promise - place before party.
But the job isn’t done. I have plans to further upgrade our transport network, spend £400 million on building social homes, and turn the West Midlands into a tech capital of the UK.
It is more important than ever that the West Midlands has a leader who can be trusted to get it right - and at the right price. I hope you will see the progress we’ve made over the last seven years, and keep your faith in me to be that leader.