THE Conservative candidate for Liverpool City mayor has pledged 'to build a city region that works for everyone' if elected.

Tony Caldeira, a textile businessman who was born and raised in Liverpool, put himself in contention for the new role last night.

He believes his political experience stands him in good stead to take on the challenging.

In a speech last night he also promised to use the new mayoral powers to improve the area's transport network, speed up planning and build more homes and workplaces on brownfield sites whilst protecting important green spaces.

He also pledged to ensure local authorities work more closely together and would improve the skills base across the City Region, insisting he would always put the needs of its people first.

Tony, who was brought up in Liverpool and went to school in St Helens, said: "Having regularly campaigned across the Wirral and Liverpool, I have a unique understanding of the whole city region and am ideally placed to deliver for ordinary working people across our region.

"It's a huge honour to be selected as the Conservative candidate and I'm looking forward to the campaign ahead.

"The Liverpool City Region has made good progress but we still lag behind others in the UK. This needs to change.

"My focus will be on creating the economic growth and the jobs that our region needs to not only catch up to, but to overtake, our competitors, both at home and abroad.

"Following the General Election result, it is clear that only the Conservatives can challenge a deeply divided, far left Labour Party, which takes the electorate for granted.

"We cannot allow our region to go back to the dark days when the far left almost bankrupted us."

He continued: "I will represent all residents of the city region, not just those in the city.

"There are more residents of the City Region living outside the city than living inside the city and it is important that their views are fully heard and they are properly represented.

"I plan to visit all corners of the City Region to consult with voters, stakeholders, community groups and businesses alike, to listen to their views.

"My mission will be to build a City Region that works for everyone."