West Midlands Mayor Andy Street turns down £16k pay rise

Andy Street has declined a £16,000 salary increase

The West Midlands Mayor has said he has declined a pay rise due to the cost of living crisis.

Conservative Andy Street said he was offered a £16,000 salary increase, as recommended by the Independent Remuneration Panel.

He has remained on the same annual salary of £79,000 since he was first elected in 2017.

Mr Street told the BBC it seemed "wrong" to accept the pay increase in the current economic climate.

"It's very straightforward," he said. "At this time when so many people are facing challenges in their personal finances it just seems wrong for me to take what's actually a pretty substantial pay increase."

Inflation - the rate at which prices rise - increased to 10.1% last month, returning to a 40-year high.

And on Friday the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) estimated that almost eight million people were struggling to pay their bills.

Mr Street was elected in 2017 under Theresa May's premiership and faces working with a fourth prime minister

Mr Street's comments come amid calls from opposition parties for Liz Truss not to claim an annual allowance of up to £115,000 after resigning as prime minister after 45 days in the job.

In June, Liverpool City Region's mayor, Steve Rotheram, announced he was donating his pay rise of about £3,000 to charity.

Mr Street oversees seven local councils across Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull and the Black Country through the West Midlands Combined Authority.

He said the conurbation was "trying where we can to help people with their everyday expenditure" by freezing bus fares and not introducing a mayoral tax.

Speaking about the ongoing leadership campaign, Mr Street, who previously backed Ms Truss, said he would not back a candidate this time around adding it was "the last chance for my party".

"If that person doesn't offer really clear leadership and deliver what we said we would do in 2019 then of course we wouldn't deserve to win again in two years' time," he said.