The mayoral thriller that exposed Tory and Labour challenges

Andy Street shakes Richard Parker's hand

The drama started on Friday morning, before a single vote had been counted. It didn’t stop until late in the night on Saturday.

It’s normal for party campaign teams and supporters to brief journalists on how they think the vote has gone once the polls are closed and the ballot papers are verified.

At that point, they can have a good idea about the result and even the side that thinks they have won may talk down their chances, hoping to make that victory appear even more spectacular when it is finally confirmed.

But as it became clear the Conservatives were heading for a disastrous set of local election results, a Labour contact went further than what’s usually described as "expectation management".

A quote, swiftly condemned as racist by the party itself, not only predicted an Andy Street victory in the Mayoral election, but bluntly pinned the blame for defeat on how the Labour Party has dealt with the issue of the War in Gaza.

The source said: "It’s the Middle East, not West Midlands, that will have won Andy Street the mayoralty. Once again Hamas are the real villains."

The language used was shocking to many, but it got directly to the heart of an issue which MPs and activists had been warning about in the Midlands for many months.

In communities where the Middle East conflict is the number one political issue of the day, voters who Labour have relied on, in some cases for decades, have fallen out with the party.

It’s even persuaded some politicians to quit the front bench.

The fact this vote was to elect a mayor with limited local powers over things including transport and housing rather than international relations, could have been irrelevant.

Twenty-four hours later, the ICC in Birmingham was filled with the noise of hundreds of people counting thousands of pieces of paper.

It’s an unmistakeable sound to anyone who’s ever been to watch an election result come in.

As the votes piled up, it started to look like that prediction of defeat the previous morning, illustrated with such raw language, might have been on the money.

One by one, the candidates started to arrive, delivered to the waiting photographers and film crews by an escalator, giving the whole event a bizarre Saturday night TV gameshow vibe.

The predicted result time of mid-afternoon came and went.

Independent candidate Akhmed Yakoob, who stood on a pro-Palestine ticket, was doing very well in Birmingham.

News and rumour filtered in from the six other count centres. The Conservatives doing well in Dudley, Labour up in Wolverhampton, a confirmed result in Tory stronghold Solihull.

"It’s too close to call" was the repeated message from campaign teams as we scanned their faces for any hint of joy or disappointment.

Independent Akhmed Yakoob arrived smiling as he emerged from the escalator

Then the news that bundles of votes were being re-checked.

Confirmation of a full recount in Coventry came just before 17:00 BST, meaning a two-hour delay.

In between updating our viewers on Midlands Today and the BBC News channel, I roamed the corridors outside the hall.

Labour’s Richard Parker, who later revealed he had only written a losing speech, looked overcome by the tension. His supporters offered hugs and reassuring words.

Conservative Andy Street was locked away with his inner circle of advisers.

The two rival camps mixed and sworn political enemies shared stories and jokes from the campaign trail to pass the time.

Labour MP Jess Phillips chatted to Northfield's Conservative MP Gary Sambrook

Some supporters gave up and went for a drink, watching our coverage on pub TVs for clues on when to come back for the result.

Suddenly, at around 19:30, the mood changed. Smiles appeared on the faces of those wearing red rosettes.

Nothing was official, but news had obviously filtered through from Coventry.

Richard Parker didn’t seem willing to believe the victory was real until the paperwork was signed and refused my request for a photo with a smile simply saying "not yet".

The Conservative camp, who moments earlier had been full of hope, were deflated.

It was another 90 minutes before the returning officer finally gave Richard Parker permission to smile.

It had been so close, just 1,508 votes, a difference of 0.3%.

Richard Parker preparing his victory speech, having only written a losing speech in advance

The usual media scramble began. We are always dashing to get the loser first - they’ve just lost their job in a very public way and are often keen to disappear. The winner will talk all night.

Andy Street fronted up, telling us he was "gutted" to have lost but that it had been a privilege to lead the region.

Off-camera I offered a handshake and commiserations - I’ve been interviewing this man for the best part of a decade and just like that, for him, it’s over.

Parker was whisked in front of live TV cameras, before his team stage-managed the arrival of a triumphant Sir Keir Starmer.

About 150 people crammed into a tiny space somewhere high up in the ICC to watch the Labour leader celebrate with the new mayor.

The tension of the day was released in deafening cheers, the atmosphere electric - it felt like a huge moment in British politics.

The West Midlands' new mayor, Richard Parker, delivered his victory speech

Fourteen hours after arriving at the venue, I found myself sprinting from one end to another, carrying a memory card with the footage of that moment, so my colleague Chris Mason, the BBC’s Political Editor, could get it on air minutes later.

As I left I walked headlong into thousands of people enjoying a Saturday night out in Birmingham’s party district, completely unaware of the drama which had been unfolding just yards away. It was surreal.

It’s my job to watch every inch of political action and convince others that it’s exciting. Sometimes, that can be a struggle.

Election experts will pore over the numbers, analysing vote share and trying to extrapolate what the result of the mayoral election tells us about voting patterns, swing percentages and the future of our politics.

Their findings and theories will be argued about at length ahead of the general election.

Andy Street told followers on X he went mountain climbing after his defeat

But there can be no argument, that what happened in the West Midlands on Saturday, was a proper political thriller.

That thriller exposed serious challenges for both Labour and the Conservatives in an election year.

The Labour source who predicted defeat was wrong, but only just.

Akhmed Yakoob came third with an astonishing 69,621 votes and he's planning to stand in Birmingham Ladywood at the general election.

'Alright for a Tory'

Richard Parker and Keir Starmer say they are listening to Muslim voters and will address their concerns, but it isn’t clear how.

Andy Street was the Conservatives' Ace card and even some lifelong Labour supporters will whisper "he’s alright for a Tory" when they think no-one is listening.

But even that wasn’t enough to overcome the party’s national woes, indeed some insiders believe "brand Andy" was relied on too much.

So far, he's refused to be drawn on whether there could be a role for him in turning around his party's fortunes.

With a general election expected to be just months away, both sides have little time to solve the difficult problems laid bare in Birmingham at the weekend.