A quick guide to West Midlands mayoral candidate Siobhan Harper-Nunes

Siobhan Harper-Nunes is the Green Party candidate for the West Midlands mayoral election. Here’s what you need to know about her.

She founded a group to help busy women achieve their goals

Ms Harper-Nunes started Birmingham-based Shakti Women in 2006, when she saw the juggle many face trying to balance families, careers and lives.

The group organises walks, coffee mornings and offers skills workshops, therapy and other activities.

She says she is not a career politician

She describes herself as the opposite of a career politician but says she is an experienced political campaigner.

She stood in the Gravelly Hill ward during the May 2022 Birmingham City Council elections.

She was also the Green Party candidate in the 2022 parliamentary by-election for the Erdington constituency.

She wants the West Midlands Combined Authority to be more accountable

Ms Harper-Nunes says her campaign will focus on making the authority work harder for left-behind communities.

She says she wants the authority to be more accountable to residents.

"The West Midlands Combined Authority is out of touch and doesn’t look like or represent us," she said.

"People still don’t know what it is and what it does. I want to give communities a stronger voice and make sure the combined authority works for and listens to us."

More should be done to tackle climate change

Action on the climate is "too little and too late," says Ms Harper-Nunes.

She says she will work hard to increase the pace and scale of change.

"For example, greater action on warmer homes so people don’t have to choose between eating and heating," she adds.

She had strong words for MPs embroiled in recent race rows

Politicians should be leading by example, not fanning the flames of hate, she said, adding there should be “no room in politics for the ugly Islamaphobia and antisemitism that we have seen recently".

Ms Harper-Nunes is vice-chair of Birmingham Race Impact Group, an organisation that promotes racial justice in the city and has vowed to use her position to educate people and force changes in attitudes.

Zero road deaths

Ms Harper-Nunes says more needs to be done for the West Midlands to achieve the ambition of having zero deaths and serious accidents on the roads per year.

She supports Better Streets for Birmingham which campaigns for changes to travel and planning infrastructure to improve safety.

Ms Harper-Nunes said some areas of the West Midlands have a low rate of car ownership but also have a poor record on safety, noise and air pollution.