So, we've heard a salary of £79,000 quoted. For what?

Here's the background... And keep an eye out for the man on the tram.

BREXIT KLAXON.

Well... that didn't take long. After just ten minutes, someone has said the B word.

An audience member says the decision to leave the EU gives the elected mayor a chance to boost investment.

"We need somebody who can travel to Europe," she says, "and the rest of the world and really sell Birmingham and the rest of the West Midlands and get inward investment into the region."

How long until the B word is dropped again?

Patrick Burns asks whether the proposed £79,000 salary is "too extravagant".

Sion Simon says an independent body should set the pay.

Audience member Graham Slater - who asked the question - doesn't mince his words, describing the role as "a waste of money" and declares he will spoil his paper, saying he thinks the majority of papers will be spoiled.

So, one question down and the proceedings have taken on an unusual tone - it's not so much a debate about who should win, but whether we should be voting at all.

Should there be a mayor? Here's what the candidates have to say...

Communist candidate Graham Stevenson has, arguably, the first soundbite of the evening (although everyone's given it a go).

It's fair to say he's not 100% behind the idea of a mayor, even saying that if you want a job doing properly, get someone who doesn't want to do it.

But wait.... that's still not the soundbite.

Mr Stevenson says a "metro mayor" is "an extra layer of government; an extra layer of fog".

Green candidate James Burn says despite the fact people in Birmingham and Coventry in 2012 "voted against a mayor", a "mayor can work". But, he says, the role needs more accountability, scrutiny and honesty.   

Liberal Democrat Beverley Nielsen says the role is about fighting cuts handed down at national level. She also says she'd take the full £79,000 wage - a fitting sum, she says, if the position is to be taken seriously.

Conservative candidate Andy Street says the region "categorically" needs a "metro mayor".

He says one of the reasons the region has done "relatively poorly over the last 40 years is that we've not had anybody championing" it.

"For the first time we will have an individual responsible for that."

The first to answer is Labour candidate Sion Simon who says the most important thing is that "we run our own region".

He says the mayor is about "taking back control, real control, real power from the London government that has let us down in the West Midlands".

UKIP candidate Peter Durnell doesn't follow up on Mr Simon's them-and-us vision. Instead, he expresses doubts about the viability of the set-up and how it will pay for itself. It's in keeping with host Patrick Burns' assessment that there has not been much evidence of a "great appetite" among the electorate for this kind of mayor.

Mr Durnell says he's running to "take control" of the costs of the Combined Authority. He also says he'll come cheap, taking a £30,000 salary out of the proposed £79,000. 

And there's no messing around, we're straight into the first question and it's taken on a rather existential tone - Why do we need a mayor?

Graham Slater, the audience member who's asked the question, wants to know whether the role is "just another expensive level of bureaucracy".

Here they are... The six people vying for votes.

Host, Patrick Burns, alludes to the elephant in the room - the thunder-stealing general election - but says the vote for "metro mayor" is the region's "own big one".

Share your thoughts on the issues discussed this evening using the Twitter hashtag #WMMayor

Okay, so a "metro mayor" for the region - what does it all mean?

The mayor is going to head a West Midlands Combined Authority made up of seven constituent member councils - Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull and all four Black Country boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Here's more on the concept, including how much the mayor costs and the powers they'll have.

Image source, PA/DAVID JONES

Patrick Burns, Midlands political editor, is your host for the special TV debate.

He will introduce you to six candidates.

Clockwise from top left they are: James Burn (Green); Beverley Nielsen (Liberal Democrat); Graham Stevenson (Communist); Andy Street (Conservative); Sion Simon (Labour); and Peter Durnell (UKIP).

Image source, Birmingham City Council

Image source, Birmingham City Council

Good evening and welcome to our live online coverage of BBC One's debate: A mayor for the West Midlands.

Just seven weeks from a snap general election, and post-EU ref, elections seem to be the context in which we exist at the moment.

This one, though, is a little different. For a start, the 4 May vote is for a brand new position for a burgeoning type of local government in the region. 

In tonight's programme, six candidates will outline their vision for "metro mayor" - the person to take charge of the new West Midlands Combined Authority.

Before the debate starts, we'll bring you up to speed on just what all that means - and there'll be a video explainer during the debate too.