Labour’s Richard Parker beats Andy Street to become West Midlands mayor

“I hope the prime minister is watching too, because – in case you haven’t heard, Rishi Sunak – our people are calling for a general election.”

Street’s defeat marked the end of a miserable 48 hours for Rishi Sunak and his party, who lost hundreds of council seats across the country.

On the final day of the campaign, he enlisted the help of Boris Johnson, who wrote to voters urging them to “forget about the government” and vote for Street.

The only Tory success story of the elections was Ben Houchen, who retained his role in Tees Valley, though he did so with minimal reference to his party.

In contrast, Richard Parker was proudly wearing a red Labour rosette at the West Midlands count at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham on Saturday, and pointedly said voters had chosen “person and party”.

Fears within the party that they would lose because of Labour’s stance on Gaza appeared not to have been realised, although the conflict may have had an impact in Birmingham, where a third of the population is Muslim.