Andy Street left a very successful corporate career to get into frontline politics.
He joined department store chain John Lewis as a graduate trainee in 1985 after studying politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford, rising to the top job of managing director in 2007.
Having spent his formative years in Solihull, he attended King Edward's School in Birmingham and still has a home in the city.
He was voted in as the first ever directly elected mayor to spearhead the then newly formed West Midlands Combined Authority in 2017 and was due to stand for re-election as the Tory candidate in 2020 only for the vote to be postponed because of the covid pandemic.
The rearranged election took place on 6 May 2021 and Mr Street was once again chosen as West Midlands Mayor, beating his Labour opponent Liam Byrne into second place.
He had previously shown his desire to get involved in regional business and politics by becoming chairman of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership following its formation in 2011.
In the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was awarded a CBE for services to economic growth.
Outside of work, he is a keen runner and can often be seen on the start line of the Birmingham's 10K and half marathon events.
