As Birmingham took to the polls for yesterday’s General Election, the Labour Party held on to all their seats, including two key marginal seats in the south west corner of the city. And in North Worcestershire, Conservative Communities Minister, Sajid Javid, held his Bromsgrove seat.

The Conservative Party had hoped to make gains with their challenges in Northfield, Edgbaston and Selly Oak.

With no UKIP candidates standing in the area, where the thousands who voted for them in 2015 placed their votes was key.

Northfield

Richard Burden (Lab) 23,596
Meg Powell-Chandler (Con) 18,929
Roger Harmer (Lib Dem) 959
Eleanor Masters (Green) 864

Majority: 4,667
Turnout: 61.54%

Former No 10 Special Advisor Meg Powell-Chandler (Conservative) had hopes of taking the seat from Richard Burden, Labour MP for Northfield for 25 years.

With the UKIP vote accounting for over 7000 ballots in the last General Election, it was unclear where those voters would place their votes.

In the end, with a turn out of 61.54%, Richard Burden was re-elected with a majority of 4667, compared to just 2506 in 2015.

Votes for the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party were down significantly compared to the last general election.

Bromsgrove

Sajid Javid (Con) 33,493
Michael Thompson (Lab) 16,920
Neil Lewis (Lib Dem) 2,488
Giovanni Esposito (Green) 1,139

Majority: 16,573
Turnout: 73.73%

Conservative minister Sajid Javid held on to his Bromsgrove seat by a clear majority once again.

Labour, represented by District Councillor Dr Michael Thompson, walked away with around 17,000 votes.

Here too, efforts by the Liberal Democrats and Green Party attracted less support than in 2015.

Edgbaston

Preet Gill (Lab) 24,124
Caroline Squire (Con) 17,207
Colin Green (Lib Dem) 1,564
Alice Kiff (Green) 562
Dick Rodgers (Europe Needs Us) 155

Majority: 6,917
Turnout: 64.22%

Edgbaston was another seat the Conservatives had hoped to take from Labour, after previous Labour MP Gisela Stuart announced she would not be standing in this election.

Emphasising her family connection, Caroline Squire – great, great-granddaughter of former Birmingham mayor and founder of the University of Birmingham, Joseph Chamberlain – had hoped to take back the marginal seat for the Conservatives.

Sandwell Labour councillor Preet Gill stepped in as Labour candidate and won with a majority of almost 7,000 votes to become the UK’s first female Sikh Member of Parliament.

Selly Oak

Steve McCabe (Lab) 30,836
Sophie Shrubsole 15,629
David Radcliffe (Lib Dem) 1,644
Julien Pritchard (Green) 876

Majority: 15,207
Turnout: 66%

Selly Oak was identified by some as a possible marginal seat for this election, after showing a strong vote for Birmingham’s first elected mayor, Conservative’s Andy Street.

Former University of Birmingham student, Sophie Shrubsole, a Conservative councillor in Kent, was the party’s candidate.

However, defending MP Steve McCabe held on to the seat with a large majority of over 15,000 votes, taking almost two-thirds of the poll.