The Labour MP Jess Phillips has said the West Midlands mayoral election remains very close and she couldn't predict a winner.

"I've changed my mind every five minutes throughout the campaign," she said.

Ms Phillips said that the Tory camp had asked for "bundle checks", and wouldn't have done so if it wasn't lagging in the count.

Asked if she was confident, she said: "I wouldn't have stayed here if I wasn't hopeful, I was meant to be at a barbecue 20 minutes ago."

The Conservative candidate, Tom Byrne has won in the Dudley local authority count by 37,434 to Simon Foster's 35,506.

Remember, Mr Byrne had to make up 86,000 votes on his Labour rival.

And there are just 58,110 papers to count in the remaining borough, Walsall.

Josh Sandiford
BBC News, West Midlands

Now six out of seven local authority areas are carrying out, or have completed, bundle recounts, including Birmingham in the race for West Midlands mayor.

I've been told Dudley isn't at that stage yet, because it hasn't been in a position to provide provisional figures yet.

Chris Mason
Political editor

It appears we are in for a very close result in the West Midlands mayoral contest.

Some sources are suggesting there are just a few thousand votes in it.

Labour are sounding more confident than the Conservatives.

The Labour candidate Richard Parker beat Conservative Andy Street in Wolverhampton by almost 8,000 votes.

Last time round Mr Street beat his Labour opponent in Wolverhampton by around 2,000.

Labour's Richard Parker is the winner in the Wolverhampton count in the West Midlands mayoral election.

He received 26,442 votes compared to 18,582 for the Conservative Andy Street.

That could be significant, because in 2021, Andy Street won in this local authority area by 2,000 votes.

We're still waiting on results from Dudley and Walsall, but it's looking almost impossible for the Conservatives to win the West Midlands PCC election now.

Labour's Simon Foster leads Tom Byrne by 86,000 votes at this stage.

We only have a little more than133,000 votes to count in the remaining local authority areas.

Rob Mayor
Political editor, West Midlands

I've covered dozens of election counts in my time and can't remember one as tense as this, even the first West Midlands mayoral which was very close.

Labour's Richard Parker is strolling the back corridors of the ICC looking incredibly nervous.

Most people here have experienced this before.

This is his first time.

Rob Mayor
Political editor, West Midlands

We're at the stage now where so-called "bundle-checks" are being carried out in a majority of the boroughs.

This is essentially a "soft check" on the numbers for each candidate.

Everyone is holding their breath to see if that could lead to a recount.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

The swing Labour are requiring to pick up the West Midlands is 5%, so the results we got earlier from Solihull (there was a 5% swing there), shows why we're all absolutely uncertain as to what is going to happen in the West Midlands contest.

If the Conservatives get it, it looks like it might be very close.

Perhaps both sides might be wise not to trumpet too much if they win, but I doubt they will take that advice.

Joshua Nevett
BBC political reporter, Coventry and Warwickshire

Warwickshire’s re-elected Tory police and crime commissioner Philip Seccombe says he feels relieved after a “very close” race, but adds the low turnout is “disappointing for all political parties”.

He says the national mood was a factor in his reduced majority.

Seccombe beat his Labour rival Sarah Feeney by just 261 votes to win a third term as the county’s PCC.

“Our party has been through a bad couple of nights,” Seccombe says. “The national picture has affected things a little bit.”

But he says the PCC campaign had “been fought mainly on local issues by the three candidates”.

Seccombe says his victory will give Tory MPs in the county “some encouragement that we can win in Warwickshire”.

Labour's Richard Parker has had a lot to say on the campaign trail and promised a positive plan for a “fresh start in the West Midlands to reach every corner of our region”, if he were to become the region's mayor.

“We’re going to do things differently, things that people can see in front of their eyes that improve their lives,” he said.

He also pledged to bring buses under public control, and said: “Buses will help drive our economy taking people to the jobs they need, the skills they want, to the high streets and across communities.”

Rob Mayor
Political editor, West Midlands

Winning the West Midlands mayor election would be the icing on the cake for Labour.

This is something they have been after since it was created in 2017

They were absolutely crushed not to win it the first time round, never mind the second time around.

Obviously with the state of things nationally, they are very very hopeful that they can finally get one over Andy Street, who has been a real thorn in the side of Labour here in the West Midlands.

You speak to Labour supporters sometimes and they'll tell you "he's alright for a Tory" and so Labour are desperate to get one over on him.

Another local authority has declared in the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner election - and it's another win for Labour's Simon Foster.

He took 42,396 votes there to 20,846 for his Conservative rival Tom Byrne.

It's looking like he's nearly there.

We've had the first borough declaring its result in the West Midlands mayoral election.

The Conservative incumbent Andy Street has got the most votes in Solihull.

He received 35,289 to 11,728 for Labour's Richard Parker.

It looks like good news for him, but that is actually down a bit on the vote from 2021 when he had a lead of closer to 30,000 in first-preference votes under the previous voting system.

Rajini Vaidyanathan
BBC News

Labour's Sadiq Khan appears to have won convincingly in London, but it's looking far less certain for their man, Richard Parker, in the West Midlands.

Labour sources here say "this is neck and neck".

The result is key for both PM Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.

For Sunak it could be a bright spot after some disappointing results - for Starmer a win in this key region ahead of a general election would give his party further momentum as we head towards a general election.

With two counts still to declare, it's looking good for Labour's candidate in the West Midlands PCC election.

The Birmingham result has just been announced and Simon Foster won that one by 125,631 to 77,798 for the Conservative Tom Byrne.

Another count has delivered its result in the West Midlands PCC election.

Coventry's voters backed Labour's Simon Foster by 43,014 to 24,989 for the Conservative Tom Byrne.

A few more still to come, but it looks like the Birmingham result will also be announced soon.

Despite being in the age of the smartphone and high-speed internet, we continue to rely on a stubby pencil and bit of paper.

The BBC spoke to young people and experts about online voting and the likelihood of it ever being introduced.

Image source, Jasmine Lee

Josh Sandiford
BBC News, West Midlands

Labour's West Midlands PCC candidate Simon Foster is posing for the cameras and chatting with the media with the result imminent.

When asked how he was feeling, he said: “I don’t know, I haven’t seen the result yet.”

Richard Price
BBC News, West Midlands

More on Philip Seccombe's retention of the Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) role.

He won by an exceptionally narrow margin of just under 300 votes.

Results:

• Philip Seccombe (Conservative) 45,638
• Sarah Feeney (Labour) 45,377
• Richard Dickson (Liberal Democrats) 24,867

There were 1,636 rejected ballots.