Historic Labour triumph as the Conservatives crumble in the West Midlands
Sir Keir Starmer will enter 10 Downing Street as Labour’s first prime minister in 14 years, after a landslide victory at the General Election.
Starmer has declared that “change begins now” after Labour smashed through the 326 seats needed for a majority, with 412 seats secured in Westminster.
It was an unsurprisingly miserable night for the Conservatives, losing 248 seats and big names for the party including Grant Shapps, Penny Mordaunt and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Jonathan Gullis, the Tory deputy chairman, lost Stoke-on-Trent North to Labour’s David Williams amidst controversies surrounding his campaigning with a convicted heroin dealer and a failure by a parliamentary group he chaired, to declare £11,000 of donations from charities.
Lichfield also saw a change, with Michael Fabricant being unseated by Labour’s Dave Robertson. In Shrewsbury, Labour’s Julia Buckley became the first female MP, ending Conservative Daniel Kawczynski’s 19-year tenure.
Independent pro-Palestine candidate Ayoub Khan has pulled off a shock win in Birmingham Perry Barr, with just over 500 votes ahead of Labour’s Khalid Mahmood. Khan had resigned from the Liberal Democrats in May, accusing the party of preventing him from speaking about Gaza.
The resurgence of Labour’s “red wall” saw Labour securing 38 out of 57 possible MPs in the West Midlands. The Conservatives managed to retain only 15 seats in the region, losing ground to the Green Party in Herefordshire North and the Liberal Democrats in Stratford-upon-Avon and North Shropshire.
Saqib Bhatti, the former President of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce managed to keep his seat for the Conservatives in Meriden & Solihull East.
