Defeated Andy Street admits 'testing time' after narrow West Midlands mayoral loss

Defeated Andy Street has admitted having a 'testing time' after narrowly losing the West Midlands mayoral race. Labour's Richard Parker beat Mr Street by just 1,508 votes - the equivalent of just 0.25 per cent - following a vote count over the weekend.

The surprise loss in the mayoral election is the end of seven years in the hotseat where the Tory politician received accolades for his determination to bring together people of all backgrounds "for the good of the region."

Issuing a statement on his Facebook page today, Mr Street posted a picture on top of a mountain. He said: "I wasn’t expecting to post again for a while, but I’ve been slightly taken aback by the number of messages. Your support means a lot to me at a testing time. In fact it seems many of you already have my next move planned out before I’ve even thought about it!

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"For those who have messaged me privately I’ll get back to you when I can - but first I had to tackle a literal mountain, after just falling short on the metaphorical one."

Mr Street had also posted on Saturday night: "Absolutely gutted to be so near, yet so far. It has been my honour to serve citizens in the WM for the last seven years, and I hope I have done it with dignity & integrity. I am proud of what we have achieved together and I hope my successor can build upon it. Thank you all."

People were full of praise for Mr Street despite his setback. One social media user wrote: "Unfortunately people purely looked at the party you were associated with rather than the good work you’ve done for the West Midlands. Hope you stick around and stand in 3 years time though you may have a whole load of mess to clear up!" Another added: "You’ll always be our Mayor, Andy. Have a break, re-energise and good luck going forward."

A different person posted: "You should be so proud of all you have achieved, always our Mayor, whatever you do next keep us all with you. You will always have our support."Another added: "Thank you for putting our region on the map, take a break and regroup, looking forward to seeing you back out there soon."

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