Jennie Aitken
Reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

We have seen some steady gains for Labour in Stoke-on-Trent as the party looks to try to retake control of a council they lost in 2015.

All 44 seats are being contested with the Conservatives having gone into the election running the authority.

So far, 14 seats have been won by Labour with six gains while the Conservatives have held three and one has been held by an independent.

Rob Trigg
BBC Shropshire

In case you might have forgotten amid the results elsewhere, counting has been going on in Shropshire and we have our first result of the night in the Telford and Wrekin elections.

Sarah Syrda for the Liberal Democrats has won Newport East.

The ward used to be Newport South and East with two councillors but the town’s been split into four wards as part of boundary changes so it is hard to make a comparison with the result in 2019.

The Labour group in Telford and Wrekin seems very confident of increasing its share of seats on the unitary council, having gained eight at the last set of local elections in 2019.

They’re hoping to take further chunks out of a diminished Conservative group. 2022 was a difficult year for the local Conservative association with six members of the management team quitting, alongside the party’s chairman.

I’ve heard from multiple sources that the Conservative group have struggled to find enough people to represent the party in all 32 wards at this election.

I know of out-going councillors standing as "paper candidates", just to make up numbers.

The Liberal Democrats, Greens and independents are desperate to add influence to a council that seems firmly in the hands of the Labour group.

Elizabeth Glinka
Political Editor, BBC Midlands

The result in Stoke-on-Trent is an absolutely crucial test of where the two major parties stand.

There have been some significant Labour gains - and the Conservative council leader has already headed home.

All 44 seats across the city have been up for grabs, and whilst the council officially had no overall control in 2019, it is the Conservatives who have been running it and were the largest single party.

Labour lost control of this authority in 2015. The loss of one of the city’s three Labour MPs followed in 2017, and two years later when the ‘red wall’ collapsed, the city found itself with three Conservative MPs for the first time in its history.

The city’s support for Brexit at 72% and promises of "levelling-up" both playing their part.

Ben Godfrey
Correspondent, BBC Midlands Today

Frustrations with the Conservative government and the way it has handled the economy have been blamed in part by Tamworth's Tory leader for their losses locally.

The authority is now under no overall control after the Conservatives lost six seats although they remain the biggest party with 14.

"Nationally and locally we've had a very difficult 12 months and I think the electorate have responded to that and voted as they see fit today," leader Jeremy Oates said.

"We've had a number of issues to tackle so I did not quite see it coming to this extent but that's the cycle of politics."

While the chair of the Labour group in Tamworth, Chris Bain, said the result was astonishing.

"This will send shockwaves throughout the Conservative Party in the whole of Staffordshire so we are delighted with this result," he said.

"We are a serious party of government and a serious party in councils."

Jubilant councillors in Dudley will have to share their thoughts with their colleagues for the rest of the morning.

James Pearson
Political reporter, BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester

We have the final results from Worcester where no party has overall control.

Labour is now the largest party on the council for the first time since 2000 and it has been a terrible night for the Conservatives, they lost every seat they were defending.

The Green Party made several gains from the Tories and are now the second-largest party on the authority.

Rhi Storer
Local Democracy Reporter for the West Midlands

Right now, the early confidence of Dudleys' Conservative leader appears to have been well-founded.

They've picked up a couple of seats already, including the Brierley Hill ward, which they have taken from Labour and have held others.

But Labour have also made a couple of gains from the Conservatives, so things are pretty even at the moment.

James Pearson
Political reporter, BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester

In Worcester - where there was talk of Labour gaining its first majority on the council this century - no party has overall control of the chamber.

The Conservatives have lost five councillors, with three going to the Greens and one each to Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

As things stand Labour is currently on course to be the largest party in Worcester in terms of council seats - if they don’t lose seats tonight it will be first time since 2000 they’ve been the largest outright.

Tom Edwards
Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

The leader of the Labour group on Redditch Borough Council has said he is "absolutely ecstatic" with the results there, despite failing to take control of the council.

Joe Baker said "we had a massive mountain to climb" to take the eight seats they needed, with only 10 up for election this year.

But he pointed out his party only had four seats a year ago and they now have 13.

The Conservative leader Matt Dormer said he was disappointed, but would have taken the result if someone had offered it to him.

He said he felt he was the victim of "the national picture", but added: "we're still in control, that's the main thing."

In a change of hands following these local elections, the Conservatives have lost control of Tamworth.

No party has succeeded in gaining a majority in the council chamber.

James Pearson
Political reporter, BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester

The Conservative leader of Worcester City Council, Chris Mitchell, has lost his seat to the Green Party in an early shock in Worcester.

The Tories have also lost another seat with the Liberal Democrats having success as well.

Still a long way to go in counting but I am getting the sense that there are some other very tight races here. Council seats with majorities of 500+ for Tories that are in play this time.

Ben Godfrey
Correspondent, BBC Midlands Today

Tonight I’m in Tamworth, as voters decide 10 seats on the borough council which has been led by the Conservatives since 2004.

Lots of interest in here at how the Tory vote will play.

Walsall North MP Eddie Hughes (pictured) is in attendance, might he apply to be Tamworth's general election candidate as Chris Pincher is understood by the BBC to be standing down?

Mr Pincher resigned from his government job in June and he was suspended from the party in July following allegations he groped two men at a private members club in London.

He apologised for "drinking far too much" and embarrassing "himself and other people".

Simon Gilbert
Political Reporter, BBC Radio CWR

We have had two results so far in Coventry and with Labour holding both wards, Radford and Upper Stoke, they stay in control of the city council.

One third of the 54 council seats are up for election this time, that's one councillor for each ward in the city.

In recent years, the elections here haven't been much to write home about. Labour has, as we've seen already, a pretty firm grip on the city.

But the Green Party did enjoy success last year, gaining their first ever seat on the council so we shall see what the rest of the night holds for other results but overall, no change of who is in control.

Allen Cook
BBC News

No surprising scenes in Sandwell as Labour have held onto a council they have been in control of since 1979.

Only a third of councillors were up for election this May and with seven seats held and one gain, Labour has already passed the total of 37 needed for a majority.

We will let you know what majority they end up with later on tonight.

The Black Country borough was in the headlines only last year.

Government commissioners were appointed by then-Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove to oversee what was described by external auditors as a "deeply troubling picture of mismanagement and of ineffective scrutiny and accountability arrangements” at the council.

Since then, the council has made "considerable progress", the commissioners claim, with a council now able to "demonstrate self-awareness and a maturity that was previously absent".

Almost a quarter of households in Sandwell receive help with council tax, a fifth of Sandwell households experience fuel poverty and nearly a quarter report food insecurity.

Before the election, the authority was already a Labour-dominated council, with 57 Labour councillors, 10 Conservative councillors, one independent councillor and two Liberal Democrat councillors.

Rhi Storer
Local Democracy Reporter for the West Midlands

Dudley has been seen as a bellwether council and is a keen target for both Labour and the Conservatives.

Before this week’s local elections, the dilapidated state of the town centre was among the top concerns for voters.

Dudley Council said an investment zone was planned for the borough but delays to the Brierley Hill to Wednesbury metro extension have raised local's eyebrows.

Since the 2010s, austerity has made matters worse with estimates that more than £100m in spending power has been lost for Dudley Council since the Conservatives came to power in Westminster 13 years ago.

There were hopes that years of decline could be reversed with a "levelling up" boost.

However, Dudley Council lost out on £20m each for improvements in Lye, Brierley Hill, Dudley and Halesowen earlier this year after other bidders were picked instead, highlighting how even a flagship Tory council can be overlooked.

But what voters were really concerned about is why the council spent £400,000 of taxpayers' money on a global property conference - with no return of investment.

Such is the furore, the local Labour group called for the current leader of Dudley Council, Patrick Harley (pictured), to go.

Dudley is exactly the kind of place Sir Keir Starmer must regain as he hopes to turn an 18-point lead in national opinion polls into local electoral reality.

Meanwhile, it's a target for the Conservatives - after all, Rishi Sunak visited the Black Country to launch the party's local election strategy.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

The leader of the Conservative group on Stoke-on-Trent City Council has comfortably held onto her Meir Park seat.

Abi Brown beat her Labour challenger by 722 votes.

Image source, Stoke-on-Trent City Council

She has been the ward member there since 2010 and going into this election she was also the leader of the authority.

But that could change tonight.

Tom Edwards
Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

The Conservatives have stayed in control of Redditch Borough Council - despite their overall majority shrinking.

The Tories have been in control since 2018 but now have 16 councillors to Labour's 13.

They are the only parties with councillors now as there are no Greens or independents left on the council.

James Pearson
Political reporter, BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester

A sudden quiet has fallen on Worcester’s Guildhall where counting has begun.

Turnout is higher than expected at 35% - in fact in three closely-fought wards of the city it’s above 40%.

From speaking to campaigners in the room the sense I’m getting is that this will be a good night for the Greens.

It looks like they may have taken seats off both Labour and the Tories.

Image source, Worcester City Council

Rhi Storer
Local Democracy Reporter for the West Midlands

Leader of Dudley Council, Patrick Harley, says he is "confident" the Conservatives can hold their ground.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he thought they might even be able to take a seat there, despite being well behind in the polls nationally.

And he added: "If Labour can't hurt us now, when can they?"

Image source, LDRS

Mr Harley said Dudley usually does "better than average" in terms of votes for the Conservatives.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

Labour's first gain of the night in Stoke-on-Trent has gone down well with the Labour MP for Yardley, Jess Phillips.

She tweeted to say: "This has made my aching legs want to get up and dance."

She described the victorious candidate, Finlay Gordon-McCusker as "a gorgeous human who works so hard" and said she was very proud of him.

Mrs Phillips said one woman told her he was a "lovely lad".