Halesowen general election result: Labour's Alex Ballinger becomes first MP for new constituency

He took the seat by over 4,500 votes from James Morris, who had served the former Halesowen and Rowley Regis seat since 2010 – the new one will be formed by part of that one and some in the Stourbridge constituency.

The former Royal Marine and Afghanistan veteran, who runs a mental health charity helping people across Birmingham and the Black Country, said he and his team had worked hard across the campaign and looked forward to serving the constituents of Halesowen.

Mr Ballinger said: "They are my first priority of course, I have met many of them on the doorstep during the campaign and I thank them all for their support and look forward to serving them in Parliament where the voice of people from Halesowen and the surrounding areas will be heard.

"Nationally and locally I aim to make targeting improving the NHS a priority - and by that I mean improving access to GP surgeries so they can see one within a reasonable time and to bring down hospital waiting lists and improve times in which people are seen, as that has been a recurring theme on the doorstep.

"I'm also going to be working closely with the police as people are not feeling safe on the streets. The priority is to recruit 13,000 extra police officers and PCSOs to help crack down on crime and improve things for people who deserve to go about everyday life feeling safe, whether that be outside or inside where shoplifting is a particular problem.

"My working life has been serving the country or trying to help people and I see this role as an extension of that. There is a lot of hard work ahead but I am looking forward to getting started."

The outgoing Mr Morris said he had fought a tough and hardworking campaign and people he had spoken to said they were grateful for his service.

He said: "I got a lot of positive responses when knocking on doors, and in politics that is a very important thing.

He said: "I think we have achieved a lot including protecting greenbelt land to the south of Halesowen, bringing jobs and investment into the area, fighting for jobs and improving transport links.

"It has been 17 years I have devoted to frontline politics, that's a big commitment of time and of effort and that has come to an end for now - but who knows what the future will bring. For now though I would just like to thank the people of Halesowen and the surrounding areas for their support."

The full results in the Halesowen constituency were:

Alex Ballinger - Labour: 15,203

Emma Bullard - Green Party: 2,151

James Morris - Conservative: 10,659

Jonathan Oakton - Reform UK: 8,484

Ryan Priest - Liberal Democrats: 2,261

The turnout in Halesowen was 56.5 per cent.