The West Midlands metro mayoral race is a key test for Keir Starmer's leadership of Labour. Conservative Andy Street's 2017 victory in the region came at a high point in Theresa May's reign as Prime Minister, just a month before the general election where she surrendered the Tories' majority.
Street holding the West Midlands for the Conservatives would signal that Starmer's plan to win back former Labour heartlands needs much greater work.
But triumph for Labour candidate Liam Byrne, a former Cabinet Minister under Gordon Brown, would suggest the party is on the road to redemption in the southern part of its Red Wall ex-strongholds.
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