Birmingham Post

It's Boris! ; London Mayor-Elect Piles On Agony for Beleaguered Brown

Gordon Brown yesterday promised to "learn lessons" after Labour suffered its worst council results for 40 years and Tory Boris Johnson was on the verge of becoming mayor of London. Sitting Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone's impending failure to win re-election in the capital was another hammer blow for Mr Brown's party, following the loss of more than 400 councillors across the country.

Positive Us Economic News Relieves Ftse 100

The FTSE 100 Index closed at its highest mark since mid-January yesterday as some better economic news from the US boosted trading. London's top flight index ended the day 128.2 points ahead at 6215.5, a gain of more than two per cent.

Five Years for Blackmailers Who Targeted Royal with Tapes

Two men were yesterday jailed for five years each for the "vicious" blackmail of a mystery royal over gay sex tapes. Ian Strachan and Sean McGuigan were found guilty by a jury after a three-week Old Bailey trial.

Local Elections: Heartland Defeat Was a Blow - Mp ; Erdington

Dejected Labour MP Sion Simon urged Gordon Brown to "listen to ordinary working class voters" after his party was blitzed at the polls. The Erdington MP spoke after seeing the Conservatives make gains across his patch, which has traditionally been a Labour stronghold.

Local Elections: 'Blair Moment' ; Conservatives

Euphoric Tories are describing it as their leader's "Tony Blair moment". In what amounted to an electoral massacre on Thursday, David Cameron ground Labour underfoot by reducing it to just 24 per cent of the popular vote.

Local Elections: Working Class Vote Is Key to Power in the City ; Public Affairs Editor Paul Dale Reports On Labour's Worst Showing at the Polls in Birmingham Since 1968

There was not much that Labour could say or do to soften the impact of a torrid election night. But that didn't stop group leader Sir Albert Bore.

Local Elections: Reading Labour Group Faces Minority Rule ; Reading

Labour lost control yesterday of the only local council it held in the South-east outside London. Tory gains in the area left Reading council with no party in overall control after 21 years of Labour dominance.

Local Elections: Green Party Candidate Topples Solihull Leader ; Solihull

The Tories regained control of Solihull Council yesterday on a day in which the borough witnessed its first Green councillor being elected at the expense of the Labour group leader. The Conservatives were jubilant after they took a one-seat lead on the council - a year after the Liberal Democrats forced the Tories into being a minority controlling party.

Local Elections: Tories Regain Redditch After a Wait of 26 Years ; Redditch

The Conservative Party has taken power of Redditch Borough Council for the first time in 26 years. Citing the abolition of the 10p tax rate and closure of post offices in the town as reasons for the ruling Labour group losing four seats to the Tories, Councillor Carole Gandy, leader of Redditch Conservatives, described the result as "fantastic".

Local Elections: Jury Out Despite Clegg's Claims ; Lib Dems

The third party came second in Thursday's elections, beating Labour's vote share, but just how great was the Liberal Democrats' achievement under new leader Nick Clegg? Mr Clegg hailed the fact that the party had defied predictions and "gone forwards rather than backwards", making a net gain of 24 town hall seats.

Local Elections: Blue Tide Sweeps 23-Year-Old Into Council Seat ; Wyre Forest

It was true blue in Wyre Forest as the Conservatives took overall control of the council. The Tories gained four seats to increase their lead over the other parties, moving from 18 to 22 seats.

Local Elections: Council Leader's Fiancee Swells Conservative Party Presence ; Tamworth

Tamworth's council chief welcomed his fiancee onto the authority as the Tories tightened their grip on power. Nicola Annandale helped the Conservatives secure the one Tamworth gain of Thursday night when she ousted Labour stalwart Dennis Powick in Glascote ward.

Local Elections: Conservatives Hammer Labour ; Labour's Electoral Suffering Was Felt Nowhere More Than in the West Midlands, As Political Editor Jonathan Walker Reports

The West Midlands is a sea of blue today after voters humiliated Gordon Brown at the polls. Labour remains firmly in control of only one authority in the region, Sandwell, where the loss of three seats to the Tories did little to dent their large majority.

Local Elections: 'Fortress of Socialism' Demolished in One Night ; Nuneaton

Nuneaton Town Hall, the last fortress of socialism in Warwickshire, is now in Conservative control. Jubilant Tories swept away 34 years of Labour rule to claim an historic triumph in the borough council elections.

Local Elections: Councillors Suffer for Westminster Mistakes ; Wolverhampton

Labour surrendered overall control of Wolverhampton Council yesterday after 13 years at the helm as they lost eight seats in the city. The Conservatives gained seven seats on the council with the other seat going to the Liberal Democrats.

Local Elections: As You Were ; Walsall

There was no change in Walsall with not a single seat changing hands and the Conservatives retaining control. Twenty seats were up with 12 occupied by the Conservatives, six by Labour and two by the Liberal Democrats.

Local Elections: Black Country Council Sees Rare Relief for Labour Party ; Sandwell

The Conservatives enjoyed only moderate success in the Labour stronghold of Sandwell with a net gain of just three seats. The controlling Labour party, which has maintained an iron grip on the council for all but one year since the borough's inception in the mid-1970s, was never going to lose its overall control of the authority.

Local Elections: Tories Tighten Grip On Dudley with More Gains ; Dudley

Jubilant Tories were cock-a-hoop after strengthening their hold on Dudley. The Conservatives gained four seats to give them 43 councillors, a healthy majority of 17 over Labour, who suffered two losses.

A Glimpse of the Future with 'I-House' That Thinks for Itself

A free-thinking, intelligent house which can turn the lights on, adjust the heating and even turn the taps off all by itself, has been unveiled in the Midlands. The clever i-House, which is the first of its kind in Britain, is aimed at helping elderly and disabled homeowners maximise energy efficiency and easily navigate around their homes.

Arrests of Drunk and Disorderly Women in West Midlands Soars

The number of women arrested for being drunk and disorderly has shot up 12-fold in the West Midlands, according to a new survey of police forces. West Midlands Police saw the number of arrests increase from 59 five years ago to 731 last year, according to the report.