Coventry City Council

Coventry's first ever Green Party councillor said he was "honoured and humbled" by the victory.

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Stephen Gray took the ward of Holbrook and said he hoped he’d live up to the responsibility of being elected.

Asked what’s the first thing he’ll do in the role, Mr Gray said he has a “big long list of issues” in the ward that people have asked him to help with.

The council's Labour leader George Duggins said it was “a night of mixed emotions”.

“We have lost Holbrook for the first time in many years. Clearly [we] have work to do to ensure we get the confidence back of the people in Holbrook.”

Another result here in the West Midlands - Coventry City Council remains in Labour's control and they have kept their majority as the Tories lost a councillor to the Green Party.

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The win for the Greens, as Stephen Gray took the Holbrook ward, gave the party their first ever seat in the city.

Labour remain the largest party with 39 councillors, 25 ahead of the Conservatives as their total fell to 14.

Two seats declared and Labour have guaranteed their control of Coventry City Council by holding both.

I said it would be quite a challenge for the Conservatives to loosen their grip because Labour went into the election with 14 more councillors than the Tories and 26 of their total were not up for grabs.

However there are still 16 seats to declare and we will be keeping a close eye to see if those bin strikes have harmed Labour's overall majority.

I'm in Coventry for the city council count where one of the biggest issues in recent months has been bins.

Coventry City CouncilCopyright: Coventry City Council

Bin lorry drivers have been striking over pay and conditions here since January and the row between the Labour-run council and the union Unite has become increasingly messy.

It has resulted in the union pulling funding for local Labour candidates so it will be interesting to see if that has an impact. But Labour are unlikely to be too concerned.

The party has a firm grip on the council here and the opposition Conservatives would need to gain 13 seats from Labour to take control.

That would be quite a challenge with just 14 Labour seats up for grabs at this election.

Results for the elections in Coventry will be announced in the early hours of Friday with all results expected by 05:00.

Here are some of the key contests to look out for tonight in the West Midlands - be aware, low turnouts in some areas could mean results come through more quickly than expected.

Tamworth: The Conservative majority is unassailable. Last year they won every ward. If they did so again, Labour would be reduced to a single seat.

Estimated result declaration: 02:00

Worcester: The Conservatives eked out a majority of one last year. There are a couple of Labour seats in their targets this year but they also have to defend in Claines against the Lib Dems. So it could slip into hung territory again.

Estimated result declaration: 02:00

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Redditch: Labour won here in 2016 but the Conservatives captured the council in 2018, when boundaries changed, and last year became almost completely dominant. A repeat performance would see Labour reduced to a single seat so, clearly, they'll be looking to turn the tide.

Estimated result declaration: 02:30

Sandwell: Labour's majority is unassailable. However, the government said in January it was minded to appoint commissioners to run the council after a series of misconduct allegations. Keir Starmer has also said there needs to be change at the council.

Estimated result declaration: 03:00

Wolverhampton: This is almost a straight Lab v Con battle, and last year the Conservatives made five gains, following on from their strong showing at the general election. Labour's majority isn't in doubt but they will want to prevent a repeat performance.

Estimated result declaration: 03:30

City of Wolverhampton CouncilCopyright: City of Wolverhampton Council

Nuneaton and Bedworth: A Conservative gain last year when they added 10 seats. If they do anywhere near as well they'll add more seats this year. It's hard to see how Labour make any progress.

Estimated result declaration: 04:00

Dudley: A very strong performance by the Conservatives last year saw them take control for the first time in a decade. If they can get anywhere close to repeating the performance they will strengthen their grip on the council.

Estimated result declaration: 04:30

Coventry: Labour will win another comfortable majority but Keir Starmer may have made things harder for the party after he was accused of sniggering about Coventry in an interview about the city's bin strike and union funding.

Estimated result declaration: 05:00

Eight councils are expected to declare their results tonight in the West Midlands with a further six counting during the day on Friday.

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We have rough estimated declaration times for those authorities which is when we expect to be able to tell if control of the councils has changed or if one party has strengthened their grip or suffered losses.

Tonight:

• Tamworth - estimated result declaration: 02:00
• Worcester - estimated result declaration: 02:00
• Redditch - estimated result declaration: 02:30
• Sandwell - estimated result declaration: 03:00
• Wolverhampton - estimated result declaration: 03:30
• Nuneaton and Bedworth - estimated result declaration: 04:00
• Dudley - estimated result declaration: 04:30
• Coventry - estimated result declaration: 05:00

On Friday:

• Solihull - estimated result declaration: 13:00
• Cannock Chase - estimated result declaration: 13:00
• Walsall - estimated result declaration: 13:30
• Rugby - estimated result declaration: 16:00
• Newcastle-under-Lyme - estimated result declaration: 17:30
• Birmingham - estimated result declaration: 18:00