We have a great chance to change Birmingham’s story for the better.

The city is in the running to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games and become the future home of Channel 4.

If successful the impact of these will go beyond the worlds of sport and culture.

Yes, they will create jobs and there will be spin-off development. But it would also be a sign – more than any marketing campaign – that Birmingham is a global city which can face the challenges of the 21st century with confidence.

During the 50s and 60s there was a can-do attitude as the city was transformed – but since then it has been battered by relative decline.

For decades the car industry dwindled and was never replaced.

Only recently have we seen a resurgent Jaguar Land Rover and modern manufacturing sector making up some of that ground.

Our confidence was shattered by a succession of failed bids – we overstretched for the 1992 Olympics and were humiliated, the national stadium was always going to be Wembley, and the City of Culture proved a struggle.

Even our successes have been low key – our status as the birthplace of heavy metal prompted just a brief exhibition, not the constant stream of coach tours that other cities generate from their music and film heritage.

We now have a chance to change that narrative. We have an excellent case for both bids. One of our greatest assets is our young people, as other areas are ageing, 40 per cent of Brummies are under 25. We also have a diverse city – we are a microcosm of the Commonwealth.

How the Alexander Stadium could look if the Commonwealth Games come to Birmingham.
How the Alexander Stadium could look if the Commonwealth Games come to Birmingham.

We are already seeing the economy grow – around HS2, Paradise, the Aston manufacturing zone, the life sciences boom around the QE Hospital and the investment in creative industries at Eastside.

But winning these bids would not only be transformative in the physical and economic sense, they are good for the soul of the city.

That is why we should all get behind it.