Shelley Phelps
BBC political reporter

At Coleshill leisure centre counting is under way for North Warwickshire Borough Council.

This is a key Labour target - it is currently run by the Conservatives who have been in charge here since 2015.

The two Westminster seats are also held by the Tories. Nuneaton MP Marcus Jones is the deputy chief whip and North Warwickshire is represented by Craig Tracey, who is also a vice chair of the Conservative Party with responsibility for local government campaigns.

Both won majorities of over 10,000 at the last general election so these seats aren’t technically marginal, but they have returned Labour MPs before and the West Midlands is bellwether territory.

All that means the results here will be closely watched. Labour Party sources tell me they’re “very confident” of a “narrow win”.

But Conservative MP Craig Tracey, who is here at the count too, is not so sure about that. He said he was staying optimistic about his party's chances of keeping control of the council.

Simon Gilbert
Political Reporter, BBC Radio CWR

Conservative Stratford-on-Avon council leader Tony Jefferson has lost his seat to the Liberal Democrats.

The count is still under way, with full results expected to be declared later this afternoon.

Giles Latcham
BBC Midlands Today

The mood among Liberal Democrats is optimistic here in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The local Conservative MP here is Nadhim Zahawi - who recently faced criticism for his tax affairs.

He was sacked as Tory party chairman after an investigation found there had been a "serious breach of the ministerial code" when he failed to disclose an HMRC investigation.

Campaigners told me this repeatedly came up on the doorstep, along with the cost of living crisis, complaints about council services and a sense of “not being listened to”.

The Conservatives are currently in control of the council, but only with a majority of two, and all 41 seats are being contested in this election.

The Lib Dems did well at the last election, however, with 12 seats to the Tories' 19 - they're hoping this time around they can do even better.

Tom Cramp
Local Democracy Reporter for Birmingham and Solihull

A third of seats in Solihull are up for grabs this year as the Conservative Party looks to chip away at the Green opposition and defend its role as the dominant force in the council chamber.

The Tories have always had a strong following in Solihull with the council under blue control since 2011 when it replaced a short-lived Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition.

Today there is no Labour representation in the borough with the Green Party emerging as the credible alternative for many voters in north and west Solihull.

Image source, Google

Green candidates have spoken of a "sense of abandonment" they are picking up on the doorstep in recent months as voters feel left behind by "empty" Conservative-rhetoric around levelling up.

Meanwhile the Tories are keen to pull focus towards local issues by proposing lower council tax and higher quality services.

The council has had a tumultuous 12 months involving a government intervention into the borough's children’s services as well as the resignation of former chief executive Nick Page.

Rob Mayor
Political reporter, BBC Radio WM

The Conservatives have gained a seat from the Independents in Knowle.

The mood music is that Tories are on for a comfortable hold in Solihull.

The results are in for Walsall - the Conservatives will retain control of the council.

There were no gains or losses for any party. The Tories have 37 seats and Labour 21 as before.

Simon Gilbert
Political Reporter, BBC Radio CWR

All elections are obviously exciting, but the particularly exciting thing about the Warwick District Council election is every single one of the 44 seats are up for grabs.

That's interesting because it means any party can grasp control - and any individual councillor can lose their seat - no matter how long they have been there or what job they do.

Image source, Getty Images

No single political party currently has overall control of Warwick District, but since 2007 it has been under the leadership of the Conservative Party - the biggest party on the council with 16 seats.

The Lib Dems have nine seats, the Green Party eight and Labour five. There are also six independents.

The Conservatives on the patch I have spoken to are predicting a difficult day.

We’ll find out if those fears are founded at around midday when the first results start to come in.

Amara Sophia Elahi
Political reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

A long-standing Conservative heartland, Stafford Borough Council has been controlled by the Conservatives since 2003 and has only had one Labour leader since 1974.

In the last local elections in 2019, the Conservatives actually lost seven seats to Labour, the Independents and the Green Party, so it is considered somewhat of a bellwether council this time around.

All 40 seats on the council are up for grabs this year and more than 120 people will be vying for them.

Stafford Borough Council has had a bit of a tough time recently - it faces a funding gap of £2m in its budget.

For this reason councillors voted to approve the sharing of most services with Cannock Chase Council last year.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Image source, Getty Images

Polling expert Prof Sir John Curtice says the Conservatives could end up losing 1,000 seats across England by the end of today, adding that the clear message of the night is that the Tories have done badly.

However, he says that doesn't mean voters are necessarily "enthusiastic about Labour".

"The reason why Labour gained control of Stoke-on-Trent was not actually because they took seats off the Conservatives, but because they took a lot of seats off the Independents," he said.

Stoke, a former Labour but pro-Brexit stronghold, was lost to a Conservatives-City Independents coalition in 2015.

Rob Mayor
Political reporter, BBC Radio WM

The Conservatives have controlled Solihull since 2011 and defend a majority of six this time round.

The Green Party form the official opposition with 14 councillors and will be hoping to rebound from minor losses last year.

Property website Rightmove recently described Solihull as a "first-time buyer hotspot" and the issue of affordable housing has been high up their on the minds of voters I’ve spoken to.

Meanwhile, the council’s children’s service continues to be rated inadequate, following the death of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes at the handsof father and stepmother in 2020.

We've still got 19 councils to get through here in the West Midlands - that's a lot of ballots to count.

Our reporters are at counts across the region - these are the scenes in Stratford-upon-Avon, Hereford, North Warwickshire and Solihull.

Stick with us and we'll bring you the results of all these counts as we get them.

Simon Gilbert
Political Reporter, BBC Radio CWR

What's the only thing better than an election? A bigger election!

In Stratford-on-Avon that's exactly what they're looking forward to this year.

Every single seat is up for grabs in this election - that's 41, an increase from 36 at the 2019 election following a boundary review.

Image source, Getty Images

The council is currently under Conservative control; they have 19 seats to the Liberal Democrats 12. There are also four independents and one Green.

The Liberal Democrats have been campaigning hard in recent weeks and they believe they can mount a serious challenge to the Conservative majority.

But history tells us that will be a challenge. The Conservatives are the only party to have ever held control of the council since it was formed in 1974.

The first results should start coming in at about 11:00 BST and we hope to be wrapped up by 13:00.

There will also be 81 parish council seats up for grabs.

Nicola Goodwin
Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

Don't worry, this isn't the official count in Herefordshire, but the race is on to see who will fill the 53 seats up for grabs.

All of the seats are up for grabs with 27 needed for a majority and it's looking like it could go any way.

The previous administration was a coalition between the Independents 4 Herefordshire party and the Green Party with the Conservative Party having the most overall seats.

The last election in 2019 was a bit of a disaster for the Conservatives who lost more than half of their seats.

With lots of independent councillors standing, it's possible the council could remain hung this time around too - let's wait and see what the white mice reveal.

We're expecting the results to be in at about 12:00 BST.

Rob Trigg
BBC Shropshire

It's been a successful night for Jenny Urey who won a seat for Muxton for the very newly formed Telford Independents.

The group says it "puts people before politics" and Councillor Urey said her campaign was "all about the residents and getting done what they need without any political persuasion".

She said it was "early days" for the group, which formed just two months ago. "We'll see where we go," she said. "It’s all about growth and moving forward."

When asked what she thought got her elected, she told me: "I think the amount of work I’ve been doing in the area, whether it’s litter picking, sorting the parks out, just getting involved with the residents and the neighbours."

Labour have held overall control of the council with 38 seats - miles ahead of the second largest party, the Tories, who have just eight.

Former Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, Baroness Anderson, says people in the city have "come home to the Labour Party".

She says there is still a "huge amount of work to do for the general election", but added: "From tomorrow, my city is red."

If you're just joining us, the overnight counts are over, but there are 19 more to come today.

The first results are expected to come in Herefordshire Council, around lunchtime and the last are due from Cheshire East Council this evening.

The busiest county will be Staffordshire, where there are five counts due to take place, but there will also be four in Worcestershire and four in Warwickshire.

We'll bring you those results as we get them.

Tracey Higgins
BBC Black Country political reporter

The count is under way in Walsall - and it sounds like we could get a result much earlier than expected, possibly because of a low voter turnout.

The final result was originally expected for about 13:30 BST, however it could be as much as three hours earlier than that.

A reminder of what to expect then - hopeful councillors have been campaigning for one of 20 available seats, a third of the council's total.

It's currently controlled by the Conservative Party, which has a majority of 14.

The party has done well in Walsall in recent years since it took control in 2019. While it's likely they may lose some seats, it would take a very bad result for the Tories to be ousted here.

Amara Sophia Elahi
Political reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

Currently, no party leads Staffordshire Moorlands District Council and since the mid-1970s it has swung between being Conservative-led and no overall control.

Last year, the veteran Conservative councillor Sybil Ralphs - who had led the council since 2007 - was ousted after she lost a leadership challenge.

Caverswall councillor Paul Roberts took over from her as leader of the Conservative group and thus the council.

Ms Ralph stood as an independent candidate in the Bagnall and Stanley ward.

Image source, Google

In recent years, the Conservatives have lost local authority by-elections in Leek East and Leek West to Labour and last year Labour made a clean sweep in the Biddulph by-elections, with councillors Charlie Smith and Dave Proudlove gaining seats on the Moorlands District Council for the Biddulph West ward.

The council’s finances have been under strain recently too due to restrictions on income and pressures from outgoings.

Despite this though, it announced it would freeze council tax next year to help families deal with the cost of living crisis.

Tracey Higgins
BBC Black Country political reporter

The Conservatives have been in control in Walsall since 2019 and have strengthened their position since then, winning five seats in 2021.

A third of the council’s 60 seats are up for grabs this time round – including that of the man who’s the leader of the authority, councillor Mike Bird. He’s been leader five times since he was first elected in 1980.

Image source, Getty Images

Labour is the main opposition party here and they’ll be looking to make significant inroads this time around but it might be a big ask for them to take back control.

The Conservatives are defending 13 seats this time and they’d need to lose 11 of them to Labour for that to happen.

Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats will be looking to stage a comeback after being wiped out in 2021, losing both of their seats.

In terms of the big issues – crime and law and order is number one.

There have been three fatal stabbings in Walsall since December with gang culture rife and areas of the town being described as "lawless" and a "no-go area" after dark.

Gavin McEwan
Local Democracy Reporter, Herefordshire

Herefordshire’s unitary council election could come down in the end to potholes versus plant pots.

The current minority Independents for Herefordshire and Greens coalition has struggled to engage the public with its vision for a more sustainable county, which includes policies to wean residents off their above-average dependency on cars.

Image source, LDRS

There is evidence of a backlash against this, particularly as drivers have noticed a decline in the county’s road surfaces over the past four years – typically contrasted with the council’s expenditure on a city centre “contraflow” bike lane (£1.2m), tree planters along a new link road (£570,000) or moss-based air filtration pillars (£320,000).

In vain, do coalition councillors plead that being able to fix holes in the road depends on declining revenue from central government or that the city’s green measures are funded from pots of capital cash that can’t simply be spent elsewhere?

Meanwhile as long at the city remains traffic-choked, there will be calls to restart the western bypass around it – a plan killed off by the current coalition but which both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have pledged to revive.