And then there were two – serious candidates to become Birmingham’s first elected mayor, that is.

A decision by Sir Albert Bore to enter the race alongside former Erdington MP Sion Simon makes Labour the only political party to be showing any interest in filling what will be the biggest local government job outside of London.

Inevitably, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and other parties will break cover if and when it becomes clear that Birmingham is going to have a mayor. That moment will not arrive until the results of a referendum are known next May.

For the Conservatives, the matter may not be so pressing since the party would surely have some difficulty in not selecting current city council leader Mike Whitby as its official mayoral candidate.

In any case, under current Government plans, Coun Whitby will become shadow mayor later this year and remain in place at least until the referendum result is known, and possibly until May 2013.

The undemocratic nature of such an anointment, which will be amplified if Labour wins an overall majority in the council chamber next May, could force a re-think by the Government, but that is yet to be confirmed.

The Liberal Democrats have a difficult decision to make. Their coalition with Coun Whitby has given the party an unexpected seven-year taste of power in Birmingham and there may be those in the party who argue that the only chance of retaining office in future relies on holding on to Mayor Whitby’s coat-tails.

No one should be in any doubt about the prize at stake here. For Labour, a party which in the current political climate would appear to be odds-on favourites to win a mayoral election, the selection contest is already turning out to be a contest between the old guard, in the shape of Sir Albert Bore, and a younger, rather less tribal, moderniser Sion Simon.

Most politically active people in Birmingham will have an idea about what Sir Albert stands for, and may also have a view about the successes and failures of his stint as leader of the council between 1999 and 2004.

As for Mr Simon, little really is known about what he would do as mayor other than a few carefully crafted soundbites about promoting Birmingham’s reputation as a multi-ethnic city and a promise to use his energies to tackle unemployment, skills shortages and deprivation.

Some people believe that Mr Simon has already built up an unbeatable head of steam with a clever soft-launch of his campaign a year ago, and more recently stepping up the pace at meet-Sion Simon gatherings.

Others wonder whether Mr Simon might have some semi-official backing from the Labour high command, since his decision to quit as an MP conveniently allowed Jack Dromey to be parachuted into the Erdington seat.

One thing seems certain. More Labour candidates are likely to emerge over the coming months, because that is the nature of politics. It is strongly rumoured that some of Birmingham’s nine Labour MPs fancy the job and are unlikely to allow Sir Albert and Mr Simon a free ride.

Potential candidates, from any or no political parties, must reveal themselves sooner rather than later in order to encourage public debate. The mayor of Birmingham will not be able to hide behind the non-existent or vacuous manifestos presented at this year’s council elections. Policy will be key, and robust policy at that.