Digby Jones tempted by West Midlands mayor role

But Lord Jones of Birmingham said the chances of his putting himself forward as head of the the region's new combined authority were currently no more than "five or ten per cent".

He was talking during a business mini-conference on board the Queen Elizabeth cruise liner this weekend, organised by Black County property tycoon Roy Richardson and his family.

Senior company executives, including Francis Robin Herzberg from Carillion,and leading figures from te business community including the president and chief executive of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, David Waller and Paul Faulkner, took part in a series of debates on the combined authority, and what it could mean for the area.

Lord Jones said the new body, given delegated powers from Whitehall, would allow local decisions to be made about spending government funding on property development, transport and improving education and skills.

But he condemned "a lack of high quality leadership" among the region's senior local politicians.

He said big metropolitan councils like Wolverhampton and Birmingham would need to give up powers to make the new combined authority effective, "but turkeys don't vote for Christmas."

Urged to put his name forward by many at the event, he declined, saying: "this is not the opening of the Digby campaign."

But he outlined his vision for the role, as someone "out in Delhi and Rio winning business for the West Midlands" while an appointed cabinet, including someone he termed "a back room fixer, ran the authority and handled local political disputes.

The former director general of the CBI, Lord Jones also served as a trade minister under Gordon Brown.

The onetime corporate lawyer from Birmingham has become a high profile figure, appearing on a string of TV series as well as working as a director for companies such as Triumph Motorcycles.

The business cruise also heard from Johnathan Dudley, Head of Oldbury-based accountants Crowe Clark Whitehill, who said most of the companies he spoke to wanted to see the combined authority named "Greater Birmingham".

"I am Black Country through and through, but if Birmingham and the West Midland want to be competitive then things have to change. If you are going for a combined authority then make it Greater Birmingham or don't bother, he said.

"People abroad don't know where the West Midlands is but they have heard of Birmingham."

There were also worries that it could involve adding another layer of local government, with the cost eating into the money that government gave the region: "we may get more control by the pot will end up smaller because of even more snouts in the trough."

And there was a call for a more united front among the West Midlands' business organisations from Beverley Nielsen, from Birmingham City University: "If the business community is not united and clear you will not be able to shape the discussion."