A quick guide to West Midlands mayoral candidate Elaine Williams

Elaine Williams is the Reform UK candidate for the West Midlands mayoral election. Here’s what you need to know about her.

She's a dog owner and a legal expert

Ms Williams is married and has a pet dog, a cross between a Staffordshire bull terrier and a labrador. She is a solicitor and deals mostly in probate cases.

She wants more buses but is not keen on one railway scheme

She believes £189m would need to be borrowed to fund a very light railway (VLR) scheme proposed for the region and that it is experimental. Calling it a "vanity project", she says it would cost less money to increase the number of buses and remove restrictions to allow cars back into Coventry city centre.

Concerned about a "net zero agenda"

She says she is standing to stop such an agenda, measures around no longer adding to the total amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. She adds that "anti-car" measures, such as low traffic neighbourhoods and clean air zones, are "seriously damaging our businesses."

She wants more social housing but will not put a number on this

Ms Williams says it's an important issue for the region as not enough social homes have been built and "we need to ensure we build them as fast and efficiently as possible". However she will not commit to a figure as she reckons it depends on a range of factors and "I just want to see as many built as possible".

She is also standing for Parliament

As well as standing for the role of West Midlands mayor, Elaine Williams is also her party's prospective parliamentary candidate for Walsall and Bloxwich. She has also stood in the last three Walsall Council elections as a candidate for Reform UK.