What is the role of mayor for the West Midlands? Their powers and who they serve explained

It was the first time there had been a regional government serving the West Midlands since the short-lived and controversial West Midlands County Council was abolished in 1986. However, the Government insisted that the new authority would be a very different animal, and instead of centralising the powers of local government, as the county council had done, it would be about devolving power from central government.