This report from Rob Mayor the E&S reporters sums up the whole farce that is the West Mids Mayor.

West Mids Combined Authority have agreed a £5m budget to pay for Mayoral election in May. Includes an extra £1m for promotion & publicity.

As you known in May all the people int he West Midlands will be expected to vote for a Combined Authority Mayor. I don’t care who is standing because Birmingham itself rejected an elected Mayor and the rest of us have had no say.

This is a massive power grab by one person who then appoints his cronies at vast cost to the rest of us. This of course was shamefully pushed through by the Tory govt and I have not seen one local Tory defend this nonsense and they voted for it at Council meetings !

So we have 5M being sucked out from local gov at the time libraries are being shut in Pheasey and the wider Walsall region.

I make my stance clear on this that everyone against this should boycott the election. I will not boycott my vote as I believe everyone should vote but will spoil my paper.

I do want a reorganisation of the political system from Westminster downwards but this simply is NOT the way to go.