Andy Street admits to 'testing time' as he thanks supporters after losing post as mayor of the West Midlands

The former Conservative mayor lost the region's mayoral race on Saturday to Labour's Richard Parker, marking the end of his seven year-run in office.

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

Mr Street posted to social media on Monday to thank his supporters, adding he had been "taken aback" by the number of messages he had received.

He accompanied the post with a photo of himself climbing a mountain, as he admitted to "falling short on the metaphorical one".

Mr Street wrote: "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!

"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 last posted to his supporters on Saturday evening, where he reacted to the outcome of the mayoral race and said he was "gutted".

He wrote: "It has been my honour to serve citizens in the West Midlands for the last seven years, and I hope I have done it with dignity and integrity.

"I am proud of what we have achieved together and I hope my successor can build upon it. Thank you all."

The results of the mayoral count saw Labour take home the most votes in Coventry, Birmingham, Sandwell and Wolverhampton.

The Tories meanwhile came out on top in Dudley, Solihull and Walsall.

Labour marked another success on Saturday after winning the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner election, as Simon Foster was re-elected.

This was however not the case in Staffordshire, where Conservative Ben Adams retained his position as police, fire and rescue and crime commissioner.