A former Labour Treasury minister who jokingly warned his coalition successor there was ‘no money left' after the recession has become the latest politician to eye up a directly-elected mayor's post.
Liam Byrne, who served as a minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, has thrown his hat into the ring for the potential mayor's post at Birmingham City Council. Mr Byrne, MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, has long been a strong advocate of wider local government powers, and could stand down from his shadow cabinet post to campaign for the mayoralty – should local voters back a mayoral referendum on 3 May.
