The returning Conservative MP for West Worcestershire, Harriett Baldwin, said the losses Labour suffered last night proved "there is no such thing as a safe seat".

She added: "There was clearly a choice by a lot of people in a lot of places that have been represented by Labour for a long time for a change of direction."

Image source, Getty Images

Speaking about her priorities for her own constituency, she said: "climate change is a big priority".

Andy Street faces an election of his own next year, when people vote again on who should be the West Midlands mayor.

Image source, Getty Images

Conservative Mr Street has said Boris Johnson will be judged on whether he can keep his promises.

And he said the election wasn't just about Brexit, because people voted for the party they thought would deliver on things like jobs and infrastructure.

Stoke-on-Trent Live

This is what Stoke-on-Trent Live is reporting today:

• Labour wiped out in Stoke-on-Trent, external
• New MP Jonathan Gullis pledges to 'work his bum off', external
• Jo Gideon pulls off shock of the night, external

"European leaders like Angela Merkel will be looking at Boris Johnson with envy", the re-elected Conservative MP for Lichfield has said.

Michael Fabricant is back with a majority of 23,638 and tweeted last night: "Many European leaders govern weak coalitions. After many years, the UK looks likely to have a strong government able to action its agenda - including Brexit."

Image source, Getty Images

He also tweeted: "Boris has done what no Conservative leader has managed since Margaret Thatcher in 1987 - securing a substantial Commons majority."

Voters in Birmingham Northfield explain what went wrong for Labour.

Stuart Anderson, the new Conservative MP for Wolverhampton South West, said Brexit wasn't the only issue that came up during campaigning.

He beat Labour's Eleanor Smith by 1,661 votes last night.

In the 2016 referendum, 54.4% of people in the constituency voted to leave the EU, lower than some neighbouring areas.

In Wolverhampton South East, 67.7% of voters backed leave.

The returning Hereford and Herefordshire South MP Jesse Norman has said he hopes people can move on from the bitterness of the general election campaign and "move towards a different style of politics."

He said: "This has been a very tough, closely fought election, people tend to do silly things sometimes in the heat of the moment and that's not confined to any political party."

Image source, Getty Images

Mr Norman said that wasn't the case in his constituency, where he thought there had been a good-natured campaign.

Mark Garnier, the re-elected Conservative MP for Wyre Forest, said: "Boris Johnson has got to heal the wounds that we have over Brexit", adding "if we are a divided country, we're not going to be able to take advantage of the opportunities Brexit has to offer."

Liam Barnes
BBC News

In other news, three men have been arrested after they were found in possession of dozens of mobile phones after a Libertines gig in Nottingham.

Nottinghamshire Police said about 30 mobile phone thefts were reported from Rock City on Thursday.

A force spokesman said following its investigations, officers from West Midlands Police stopped a Lexus near Birmingham, where they found 40 phones and some cash.

The men - aged 27, 41 and 44 respectively - are all being questioned on suspicion of theft.

Image source, Nottinghamshire Police

While parts of Labour's "red wall" collapsed overnight in the West Midlands, others held firm despite the party's heavy defeat overall.

In Wolverhampton, two of the three constituencies fell to the Tories, likewise in Stoke-on-Trent.

The Conservatives also took a seat from Labour in Dudley North and two in West Bromwich.

Birmingham Northfield became a Conservative seat for the first time in 27 years.

Despite all of Birmingham's other Labour MPs seeing their majorities cut by varying degrees, their opposition Conservative candidates failed to make major inroads across the city. Rather, other parties benefited (although remain well behind the big two).

The exception was Yardley, where Vince Garrington took an extra 10 percentage points of the share of the vote, compared with 2017, although the Lib Dems lost votes as well as Labour.

In seven of the 10 Birmingham constituencies (including Sutton Coldfield), the Conservatives actually polled fewer votes in 2019, compared with 2017.

In terms of share of the vote it's a similar story. In five of the 10 seats, the Conservatives lost share, while in others their gains were minimal.

Ruth Smeeth, the former Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent North lost her seat to the Conservatives.

It's been a busy election period for candidates and their teams of volunteers, many whom have been pounding the streets to sell their party's message.

A flavour of how the local newspapers and websites reported the results overnight:

• Landslide victory for Conservatives as Black Country turned blue and Labour almost wiped out, external (Express & Star)
• Tories sweep back to power and make Birmingham breakthrough, external (Birmingham Live)
• Summary of the General Election 2019 results for each constituency, external (Birmingham Updates)

Birmingham Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood says Labour has got to "understand what went wrong".

He won with a majority of 15,317, which is down by more than 3,000 compared with last time.

"Basically our policies weren't in the right direction and our campaign perhaps didn't understand what the people are looking for and therefore what [we've] got to do now is to understand what went wrong.

"I think in a sense the leadership has to change. We have to move forward and look at it and rebuild ourselves up."

Jess Phillips, the Labour MP for Yardley, has said she wants to rebuild the party and hasn't ruled out running to be the next leader, after Jeremy Corbyn.

But she questioned whether she would be the right sort of person and said: "Lots of people will say that they like me, but it isn't enough. I have to have a considerable amount to offer, more than just that people like me."

Jess Phillips is the third favourite to succeed Jeremy Corbyn with a number of bookmakers and said: "I want to rebuild trust, I want people to think that they are part of our system and feel proud of it."

A charity shop worker initially thought the item was "junk" and nearly threw it out.

The two accused are barred from Cumbria as part of their bail conditions until the trial.

Macclesfield's League Two game at Walsall will go ahead as scheduled on Saturday after players were paid outstanding wages.

Labour loses nine seats in the region including all in Stoke-on-Trent and two in Wolverhampton.

The Labour MP for Wolverhampton South East has said there now needs to be "cultural change" in the party.

Speaking after holding on to his seat with a much-reduced majority of 1,235, Pat McFadden said Labour would be "deceiving itself" if it thought "it could continue in the same direction as it's had in the last few years".

Speaking about the way the party is run, Mr McFadden said: "On every issue. instead of debating its merits up and down, far too often it's judged as some kind of test of loyalty to Jeremy Corbyn and that's a way of shutting debate and discussion down."

He added: "To remove Jeremy Corbyn and carry on with Corbynism, if you like, under a new face and voice would probably be the biggest mistake the Labour Party could make right now after these devastating results."

Kathleen Salmond and Kevin Flanagan drowned Lisa Bennett and then claimed her benefits.