Tory Party Conference: Mayor Andy Street in rallying call for the Midlands

Mr Street was speaking at the conference, where he was pushing the region's claims as a model for the rest of the UK.

He also said the time had come for the West Midlands to look beyond the UK and Europe and bring in investment from across the globe, using Wolverhampton's JLR plant as an example.

Mr Street said the region had 'outperformed' other areas of the country – including conference host city Manchester – and insisted his focus was on competing on a global stage in the post-Brexit world.

He proclaimed that the West Midlands was ready to become a beacon of economic growth, and would rise up after putting to rest its struggles under previous Labour governments.

"The message I want to get across at this year's conference is that this is our time to shine," he said.

"The West Midlands is poised to deliver, not just for its own citizens, but for the country as well.

"I want to make it very clear to the Government that, quite frankly, we will deliver for them and for our citizens.

"They still control some of the investment that we need, so I want the West Midlands to be first and foremost in their minds."

The Conservative mayor insisted the region needed to 'look beyond the UK' and 'play on the bigger stage'.

"We have got to think about our international competitors," he said. "If you take Jaguar Land Rover, for them it is actually a choice between the West Midlands and international destinations.

"We have to be clear that if we just play a kind of small scale game where we are competing only with regions in the UK, we are going to fall behind.

"We've got to think about those international competitors. We also need a government that is always thinking about investing in the West Midlands to enable is to make the most of those opportunities."

Mr Street said that he hoped Government ministers would be 'utterly convinced' that 'the team in the West Midlands have really got their act together'.

He cited evidence of the region's 'growing success story', including securing Government funding for new housing sites, the devolution deal to boost transport, and the £56billion investment in HS2 - which he said was vital for West Midlands' connectivity.

And the Government's backing for the region's Commonwealth Games bid was a big chance to further hog the spotlight, he said.

"If you look at the relative performance of the West Midlands compared with the rest of the country, it is doing better," he said.

"Let us not forget that the region's performance under previous Labour regimes was clearly a lot worse."