So West Midlands Police commissioner David Jamieson is finally putting his now legendary and very public falling out with his former deputy Yvonne Mosquito behind him with the appointment of a new back team to herald his new term.

Previously, this column listed three likely candidates for the new deputy role and, of those, only former Lib Dem councillor Ernie Hendricks made the commissioner’s new strategic board (a 33 per cent success rate is still better than the hit rate my sporting colleagues will get with their football transfer speculation this summer).

Of course, the headline was that the £65,000-a-year deputy commissioner role has now been scrapped and replaced with two assistants – who are paid £30,000 and £39,000 respectively.

I’m told the new arrangement is a short-term contract, meaning there is no extra drain on the commissioner’s budget.

That one of the jobs went to senior Dudley councillor Judy Foster is of little surprise.

Eyebrows have been raised that the other Assistant PCC is 24-year Ashley Bertie, who has been a staffer in Mr Jamieson’s office.

Mr Jamieson described him as one of the “brightest talents” in politics and policing but such is his meteoric rise that others have nicknamed him the ‘Marcus Rashford’ of the city’s political scene.

Manchester United's Marcus Rashford
Manchester United's Marcus Rashford

And, like England’s new star striker, he will be watched carefully to see if he delivers on this potential.

Amid the concern is that Mr Bertie is too young to have a track record and that other more seasoned and proven political figures were overlooked.

There may be more than a hint of bitterness in this.

As well as one of the most ethnically diverse, this is also one of the youngest cities in Europe and shouldn’t the police force top table reflect that? What is certain is that you can no longer say that old white guys dominate the top positions.

The wider board is also likely to be a lively affair with several well known characters.

Not least is former Secretary of State for Defence and Coventry MP Bob Ainsworth - who more than makes up for the lack of experience elsewhere.

His most significant contribution to the crime agenda in the past was to call for all drugs to be legalised , or at least decriminalised, back in 2010.

He famously claimed that the war on drugs had been lost, the poor were suffering most and the criminal gangs were reaping the benefits of the illegal trade.

Bob Ainsworth
Bob Ainsworth

As a Government minister he was unable to convince colleagues that this was worth even looking at, let alone implementing. With those powers of persuasion, it is equally likely that his views will be given short-shrift by his colleagues on the panel.

Another character joining the board is the man of a thousand jobs, Waheed Saleem - fitting for the city of a thousand trades.

His ‘error of judgement’ as a youthful Walsall councillor a decade or so ago is well documented.

But since then he has racked up an impressive CV of directorships, appointments, jobs and contracts.

Even Tony Blair would have to admire his ability to network.

The list includes governor’s posts with the post-Trojan Horse Park View Academy and the pre-funding scandal Perry Beeches Trust.

He also has experience with several health service organisations, the Groundwork Charity and project work for Birmingham City Council.

And even then has found time for senior posts with the BBC's West Midlands Audience Panel, the Lunar Society and the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce.

You have to wonder when he finds time to sleep.

Given he flits from role to role, it is appropriate that the board appointments are for one year at a time.

But the thing we would all like to know is, what his Mr Saleem's interview technique and can we learn from it?