The Labour Party selected the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Hodge Hill, Liam Byrne, a former Cabinet minister under Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who ran as a Labour and Co-operative Party candidate, whilst the Liberal Democrats chose previous Parliamentary candidate for Sutton Coldfield Jenny Wilkinson.

[5] In the inaugural election in 2017, the Conservative candidate Andy Street defeated Labour's Siôn Simon in the final round with 50.4% of the vote.

[13] Street lobbied the government to integrate the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) role within the mayoral position in time for the 2020 election.

[16] In June 2020, Street signed a plan to create a West Midlands National Park, in cooperation with councils in and around the city-region.

All registered electors (British, Commonwealth, Irish and European) living the metropolitan boroughs of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, and Wolverhampton aged 18 or over are entitled to vote in the mayoral election.

Prior to the election campaign in December 2019, Street stated that council tax across the city region may have to increase in 2021.

[14] Street set targets of delivering 215,000 homes in the city region by 2030 as well as the West Midlands becoming carbon neutral by 2041.

[21] On 4 February, Street released a prospective metro map for the West Midlands, planned to be built by 2040 should he get elected.

[26] Ashvir Sangha, a social entrepreneur and former organiser in the 'Brum Young Leaders' programme, was standing as an independent candidate.

Two of them: Neena Gill a Member of the European Parliament and Lynda Waltho, former MP for Stourbridge[33][34] withdrew their candidacy.

[44] Journalists including Sienna Rodgers and Stephen Bush noted that his success in the selection could be seen as a boost for Keir Starmer's campaign for national Labour leadership.

[49] She subsequently resigned from the party, along with three other Malvern Hills District Council Lib Dems, in protest after the group's new leader pulled out of the authority's ruling coalition administration.

[53] He was standing for: "An end to the West Midlands Poverty Scandal, a genuinely Green Industrial Revolution, and a transport system you can actually use.

Ashvir Sangha, a social entrepreneur, was an independent candidate, under the 'Our West Midlands' slogan, before his withdrawal on 6 April 2021 to endorse the incumbent mayor Andy Street.