Boss of UK's John Lewis selected to run for West Midlands mayor

LONDON (Reuters) - British department store chain John Lewis [JLP.UL] [JLPLC.UL] will have to appoint a new leader after Managing Director Andy Street was chosen by the ruling Conservative Party as its candidate for mayor of the West Midlands in central England.

Street, who has led John Lewis for a decade, was formally selected by local Conservative members on Thursday, the party said in a statement.

He will now step down from his John Lewis role to fight the mayoral election which will be held in May next year.

The John Lewis Partnership, which also owns upmarket supermarket Waitrose, is expected to make a statement on Friday regarding its future leadership.

Analysts say frontrunners to succeed Street are his former lieutenant Andrew Murphy, who is now the partnership's productivity director, current retail director Mark Lewis and commercial director Paula Nickolds.

(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)