Amid the hustle and bustle of Manchester’s metro mayor race (well covered by Iceni here and here) other, more exciting, elections are being left at the wayside. West Midlands is the election everyone should be talking about. Not only are the opportunities across the region as enticing as the Northern Powerhouse but the race to become Mayor is on a knife edge.

The Liberal Democrats, off the back of their national anti-Brexit resurgence, will have a tough time convincing leave areas like Coventry and Wolverhampton. On the other hand, UKIP will look to capitalise on these areas, but will have a harder time convincing the 50/50 region of Birmingham. With these fringe parties unlikely to make a major impact on the outcome, it is looking like the election is going to be a classic Tory vs. Labour two horse race.

Labour are fielding Siôn Simon, a former Birmingham MP, Government Minister and MEP. Simon is a political heavyweight with stints as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Creative Industries and Further Education in his resume. Moreover, Simon is well established in Birmingham, born and bred in the city as well as representing Birmingham Erdington as an MP for 9 years.

If Simon is from the old guard, Conservative candidate Andy Street is the new school of politics. Street is a businessman, who stepped down from his post as Managing Director of John Lewis to contest the elections. Not following the traditional party line Street pitches himself as more of an independent, he rarely mentions the wider Conservative party and note the distinct lack of blue on his website. Street is a strong figure in the West Midland’s – he has been at the centre of multiple enterprise groups in Birmingham and promoted the region as a former member of David Cameron’s business advisory group.

Central to both Simon and Street’s manifestos is housing. Simon says he will reduce the Council housing waiting lists by 60% whereas Street is promising to deliver 25,000 new homes. Other key areas for both candidates include youth unemployment and public transport, but with an expected 40% voter turnout we have to wonder how much this election will be about policy and how much about public perception.

Initial polls suggest that the Conservatives would need a 4% swing, against the Labour 2015 general election performance, to gain the seat - not an insurmountable amount. The prominence of leave voters in the region and Labour’s national polls open up the playing field even more, but history lies in favour of Labour. Whether this will be a much needed Labour victory or another big win for the Conservatives it is probably too early to tell – but the West Midlands is shaping up to be the tightest election of 2017.