A day is a long time in politics and as voters head to the polls, bookmakers say punters have switched allegiance in the race for Mayor of the West Midlands. While the chances of Richard Parker’s Labor winning on Wednesday were slim, Conservative Andy Street had a strong following, making him a candidate with a good chance of winning a third term as the vote took place today, Thursday, May 2.

Mr Street was favourite with all bookmakers, with the best price at Betfred at 4/6 at the time of going to press. He is also a clear favourite at 4/7 with William Hill, Coral and Ladbrokes, according to betting comparison site Oddschecker, 8/15 with betting exchange Betfair, 1/2 at Sky Bet, while the shortest price on offer was 4/9 at Star Sports.

Parker seemed to be drifting through the market and was priced best at 15/8 – almost 2/1, with Star Sports the longest odds, in contrast to the odds from the day before. He is 3/2 with Sky Bet, 5/4 with William Hill, Coral and Ladbrokes, 6/5 with Betfair and 11/10 with Betfred.

READ MORE: Three things that stand out between Andy Street and Richard Parker in the mayoral race

Apart from the leading duo, the odds for the other four candidates remained unchanged – Elaine Williams for Reform UK was still at 50/1, Siobhan Harper-Nunes for the Green Party at 66/1 and Sunny Kirk for the Liberal Democrats and Ahmed Yakoob, an independent, long outsider, at 200/1 – the same as yesterday.

A spokesman for Betfair betting exchange said: “In less than 24 hours, punters in the West Midlands Mayoral race have switched their support from red to blue.

“Labour’s Richard Parker looked set to unseat incumbent Conservative mayor Andy Street only yesterday – but Betfair punters now see the incumbent as favourite. The dramatic turnaround comes after the Conservatives reported the Labour candidate to the police over allegations of electoral law breaches.

“Parker said he lives in a flat in Birmingham City Center but his Conservative Party rivals say he has only recently started renting it. To be eligible to stand, candidates must have lived in the West Midlands Combined Authority Area for 12 months before nomination.

“Parker was riding high, with odds of 8/11 (57 percent) to defeat Street, who has held the position since the 2017 inaugural election. Following yesterday’s news, Parker’s odds have fallen to 6/5 (45 per cent) while his rival’s odds have risen from 11/10 (47 per cent) to 8/15 (65 per cent) on Betfair today.

However, Labor MP for Birmingham Yardley, Jess Phillips, slammed the challenge, as reported by our sister title The Mirror: “While in some cases victims wait weeks for police to respond, this politically motivated gesture is an egregious waste of police time. Andy Street should be absolutely ashamed that his campaign has degenerated into a political farce of desperation. The only way to end this conservative chaos is to vote for Richard Parker.”

A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that we have received an allegation and are currently assessing it.”

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Leon Blackman of Oddschecker said: “This week has seen a significant change in the dynamics in the West Midlands mayoral election market, with Andy Street emerging as the favorite for re-election. Initially priced at 6/4 earlier in the week, Street has now moved to 4/6, pushing rival Richard Parker into second favorite with bookmakers. At current odds of 4/6, bookmakers give Street a 60% presumed chance of winning Thursday’s election.”

Betfair spokesman Sam Rosbottom added: “What a twist. Betfair Exchange players were quick to abandon Richard Parker after the devastating news yesterday. Parker, who yesterday was the clear favorite to win the West Midlands top job, is now staring failure in the face.”

“They say a week is a long time in politics. For these two men, less than 24 hours seem to have had a dramatic impact on the course of their lives.”