Andy Street admits he has ‘tested time’ as he thanks supporters after losing West Midlands mayor’s job

The former Tory mayor lost the regional mayoral race to Labour’s Richard Parker on Saturday, marking the end of his seven-year term.

As both the Tories and Labor predicted, it was a close contest, with the winning margin just 1,508.

Mr Street took to social media on Monday to thank his supporters, adding that he was “surprised” by the number of messages he had received.

He accompanied the post with a photo of himself climbing a mountain, as he admitted he “came up short on the metaphorical one”.

Mr Street wrote: “I didn’t expect to post again for a while but was slightly surprised by the number of messages.

“Your support means a lot to me at a testing time. In fact, it seems like many of you already have your next move planned before I even think about it!

“For those who have sent me private messages, I will reply when I can – but first I had to tackle a literal mountain after I just didn’t get to the metaphorical one.”

Mr Street last tweeted to his supporters on Saturday night, where he reacted to the outcome of the mayoral race and said he had been “shunned”.

He wrote: “It has been my honor to serve the citizens of the West Midlands for the past seven years and I hope I have done so with dignity and integrity.

“I am proud of what we have achieved together and I hope my successor can build on this. Thank you all.”

The town hall count results saw Labor take home the most votes in Coventry, Birmingham, Sandwell and Wolverhampton.

Meanwhile, the Tories came out on top in Dudley, Solihull and Walsall.

Labor scored another success on Saturday after winning the West Midlands police and crime commissioner elections when Simon Foster was re-elected.

However, this was not the case in Staffordshire, where Conservative Ben Adams retained his role as Police, Fire and Rescue and Crime Commissioner.