The local elections, for the most part, proved deeply disappointing for the Conservatives as Labour swept the board, sending a defient message to Rishi Suna's government.

Some losses were inevitable. Most of the seats being elected on Thursday were previously contested in May 2021, when the Conservatives were six points ahead of Labour in the national polls. But the scale of their reverses will worry them, with the Conservatives have also losing more than one-in-three of the police commissioner posts they were trying to defend.

The results proved a bitter pill for the Conservatives as Andy Street narrowly lost the contest of leading the West Midlands Combined Authority – having been in the seat for the previous two terms. Labour candidate, Richard Parker, beat incumbent Conservative, Andy Street, who has performed the role since 2017 - the first ever directly elected mayor of the West Midlands.

 

A former partner at financial services firm PwC, where he worked for 26 years Mr Parker was also involved in the formation of the Combined Authority and will be in the mayor for a four-year term. The size of the swing to Labour in these elections and their consistent national opinion poll ratings means they ought to be winning a race like this.

Covering the metropolitan districts of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton - alongside other 'affiliate' local councils, Mr. Street's capacity to outperform his party showed that the result was very close. A proud Conservative, he wears his affiliation very lightly, and he came mighty close.

But Tories also talked up the prospect of him winning and so his failure to do so deepens the wounds of this week for Rishi Sunak. Former mayor, Street (right in pic) said: “The thing everyone should take from Birmingham and the West Midlands is this brand of moderative, inclusive, tolerant conservatism, that gets on and delivered.”

He advised the Prime Minister to pay heed to the words of the West Midlands' voters, saying: "Concentrate on the job and getting that done. That's what the people want.

"They want confidence in their politicians to deliver. That is the message I think from the result."

On a night of all-round accepting, civility and respect, Mr Street did not always see eye-to-eye with the PM during his tenure as West Midlands mayor. In his acceptance speech, Mr. Parker (left) said: "This is the most important thing I will ever do.

"I promise you that I will deliver jobs," he added. He said that he would take buses back into public control and deliver the largest programme of social housing we've had in this region for more than 40 years.

“The thing everyone should take from Birmingham and the West Midlands is the brand of moderative, inclusive, tolerant conservatism, that gets on and delivered, has come within an ace of beating the Labour party in what they considered to be their backyard - that’s the message from here. The Labour leader said that he will deliver for those who voted for him after being declared winner of the West Midlands mayoral race.”