Richard Parker elected as Mayor of West Midlands

After a round of local elections which saw a massive swing in seats heading towards the Labour party, one of the most important roles in the country slipped from underneath Andy Street's hands, as Richard Parker narrowly defeated the Conservative force by 0.3%.

Richard Parker attributes his narrow win thanks to his early support in the ceasefire calls for Gaza, words which were not necessarily echoed by Labour leader Keir Starmer at the breakout of war.

Richard Parker took home 37.8% of the votes with 225,590 to his name to Andy Street's 224,082, one of the closest runs for West Midlands mayor in history. Independent runner Akhmed Yakoob had a huge influence on the elections this year as he received 69,621 votes, which is equivalent to 11.7% of the votes.

After his victory, Richard Parker talked about the vast importance of this victory, highlighting the voters view on not simply just voting for the party or the person, but both, "This is the most important thing I will ever do. This week, the people voted for the person and the party. They recognised a Labour mayor can make a positive difference. It shows that people are calling for Labour and calling for change. People are asking us to govern."

The leader of the Labour party, Keir Starmer, expressed his adulation for the West Midlands result, claiming that it was 'phenomenal' and 'beyond our expectations'.