West Midlands
The West Midlands Region consists of the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire (we will refer to the county of West Midlands as Greater Birmingham to avoid confusion with the region). Politically it has three distinct parts, central Birmingham, the close suburbs and Coventry (which are very red), the outer suburbs of Greater Birmingham and nearby towns (which are very competitive) and the rural counties that surround Greater Birmingham (which are very blue).
The rural parts of the West Midlands are very blue. Labour won just one seat in Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire put together in 2019, whilst the Conservative held the remaining 30. This was an historical low point for Labour, particularly in Staffordshire. They held 9 seats as recently as 2005 and had not fallen below 4 in the 60 years before that election.
The most competitive part of the region is the Black Country, which is home to many marginal seats. The towns of Dudley, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton are fiercely fought over by the two big parties.
The West Midlands is not a strong region for the Liberal Democrats or for any other party. The big two tend to dominate in both vote share and seats won.