Summary

  • Richard Parker defeats incumbent Andy Street to become mayor of the West Midlands

  • Just 1508 votes separated the Labour winner and his Conservative rival Andy Street

  • Elsewhere, Labour's Simon Foster is re-elected as the West Midlands police and crime commissioner

  • Conservative Philip Seccombe wins Warwickshire PCC election

  • Thursday saw councillors elected at 107 local authorities across England, as well as PCCs across the region

  1. End of our live coverage - watch Politics Midlandspublished at 21:53 British Summer Time 4 May

    We're ending our coverage of today's election results.

    Remember, you can see more reaction to the vote in Politics Midlands on Sunday morning on BBC One at 10:00 BST and afterwards on BBC iPlayer.

    And there's more reaction to results across the country in our national live page and elsewhere on BBC News.

    Thanks for following.

  2. Tories felt entitled to victory - Starmerpublished at 21:47 British Summer Time 4 May

    Richard Parker and Sir Keir Starmer celebrate the new mayor's win

    Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer addressed the media at the count, flanked by the new mayor and dozens of supporters.He said of the weekend's elections: "We started in Blackpool with a 26% swing. We've ended in the West Midlands with our new man Richard Parker as the West Midlands mayor.

    "The way we went about it in the West Midlands really, really matters. The Tories felt that they were entitled to victory here, that they could use Andy Street as a crutch for Rishi Sunak's weak leadership, and they didn't have to be in touch with the priorities of the people."

  3. My honour to serve and lead, says Andy Streetpublished at 21:26 British Summer Time 4 May

    Andy StreetImage source, PA Media

    Andy Street thanked election staff and his political opponents, his campaign team and those who voted for him.

    He wished Mr Parker "all strength and wisdom" as he takes over the reins.

    He said: "It has been my honour to serve and to lead this place for the last seven years.

    "I hope I've done it with dignity and integrity and I hope I've bequeathed to Richard a combined authority - and indeed a role - to which young, aspiring leaders will want to aspire one day."

  4. Richard Parker pays tribute to Andy Street in acceptance speechpublished at 21:10 British Summer Time 4 May

    Mr Parker began his speech by thanking polling staff for their work.

    He also had some warm words for his political rival, Andy Street.

    "You've led this region through a number of great challenges," he said of Mr Street, adding: "you deserve great credit for that."

    He continued: "You deserve credit through building up the combined authority into the powerhouse it is today, through the economic shocks and for leading this region when it came out of covid.

    "You've been out there representing our region.

    "I absolutely believe that whilst our politics are different, Andy, we both have the best interests of the West Midlands at heart."

  5. New mayor speakspublished at 21:05 British Summer Time 4 May

    Richard Parker told the crowd at Birmingham's ICC: "This is the most important thing I will ever do.

    "This week people voted for the person and the party. They recognised that a Labour mayor can make a positive difference in this region."

    Richard Parker at podium
  6. And the final results are...published at 20:58 British Summer Time 4 May

    Here are the full results from the West Midlands mayoral contest:

    • Siobhan Harper-Nunes, Green Party – 31,036
    • Richard Parker, Labour – 225,590
    • Andy Street, Conservative – 224,082
    • Sunny Virk, Liberal Democrats – 12,176
    • Elaine Williams, Reform UK – 34,471
    • Akhmed Yakoob, Independent – 69,621

    Total rejected ballots: 4,757

  7. Labour wins West Midlands mayoral electionpublished at 20:51 British Summer Time 4 May
    Breaking

    Labour's Richard Parker has beaten Conservative Andy Street to the West Midlands mayoralty.

    Full results shortly.

  8. Victory speech?published at 20:49 British Summer Time 4 May

    A photographer from the PA news agency has snapped Labour candidate Richard Parker reviewing some paperwork at Birmingham's International Convention Centre.

    Could this be his victory speech?

    Richard Parker holding a piece of paperImage source, PA Media
  9. Labour figures gather to hear resultpublished at 20:42 British Summer Time 4 May

    Nick Watson
    Sunday Politics Midlands

    Smiling Labour MPs and campaigners are gathering in the hall to listen to the declaration.

    Group in front of stage at ICC
  10. 'Technical delay'published at 20:37 British Summer Time 4 May

    Our reporters at the count believe there has been some sort of "technical" delay, which has meant the result has not yet been announced.

    But the candidates have just been summoned to a media area to review the results.

  11. Messy campaignpublished at 20:33 British Summer Time 4 May

    Rob Mayor
    Political editor, West Midlands

    A Conservative source in the Midlands with good knowledge of the campaign tells me: "It was never going to end well, as the campaign was a mess.

    "Literature arriving late, activists only turning up for photos. Too much hubris and arrogance, assuming we'd win 'because it's Andy'.

    "Good, experienced people not consulted, brought in or engaged. I'm gutted, the West Midlands is screwed."

  12. Surely not long now?published at 20:30 British Summer Time 4 May

    Nick Watson
    Sunday Politics Midlands

    The media team have assembled near the stage.

    We've been told the rules of engagement for interviews, so it can't be long now.

  13. Scale of the winpublished at 20:24 British Summer Time 4 May

    Nick Eardley
    Political correspondent

    Senior people in the Labour party are saying they've won, but only by a thousand votes or so - that's a tiny margin.

  14. A sign of confidence?published at 20:08 British Summer Time 4 May

    Labour MP Liam Byrne has posted a picture of himself cheering alongside Richard Parker, the party's candidate in the West Midlands, to social media.

    Byrne is a long-standing MP and represents the Birmingham constituency of Hodge Hill.

    A sign of growing confidence in the Labour camp?

    Liam Byrne and Richard Parker cheeringImage source, Liam Byrne
  15. Labour sources: we think we've wonpublished at 20:02 British Summer Time 4 May
    Breaking

    Nick Eardley
    Political correspondent

    Labour sources have told the BBC they believe they have won the West Midlands mayoral election

  16. Why are we in here?published at 19:53 British Summer Time 4 May

    Josh Sandiford
    BBC News, West Midlands

    Jess Phillips in fine form. Asked why everyone had come back through to the hall she says she has no idea. “Somebody literally walked in and then everybody walked in,” she says. “We’re easily led, clearly.”

  17. Postpublished at 19:48 British Summer Time 4 May

    Labour councillor for the Whoberley ward in Coventry, Jayne Innes, says she is pretty confident Mr Parker has clinched it.

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  18. Party members are gathering around the stagepublished at 19:47 British Summer Time 4 May

    "Perhaps unsurprisingly there are more Labour members than Conservatives down here at the moment," says our reporter.

    Labour appear to believe they have won the West Midlands mayoral contest.

    It's certainly all smiles for Birmingham MPs Jess Phillips and Shabana Mahmood.

    MPs at the count
  19. Are last borough's results within Labour's grasp?published at 19:41 British Summer Time 4 May

    Professor Sir John Curtice
    Polling expert

    With Sandwell the last local authority to declare in the West Midlands mayoral contest, Labour need to win Sandwell by at least 11,456 votes.

    In the last contest, Labour were 5,171 votes ahead of the Conservatives. So all now turns on whether Labour can win over 3,143 Conservative votes into their camp.

    Our modelling of the results so far suggests Labour may well achieve this.

  20. Labour looking 'chipper'published at 19:39 British Summer Time 4 May

    Our reporters at the count tell us Labour appears increasingly confident.

    The party's contingent has been seen making thumbs-up gestures, and appears to look more 'chipper' than earlier in the day.