Shabana Mahmood among the first Muslim women elected to Parliament

Shabana Mahmood has been elected as the Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood, becoming one of the first Muslim women to be elected to the House of Commons.

Ms Mahmood, a barrister who was born in Birmingham, succeeds Clare Short, who has represented Ladywood since 1983 and stood down at this election. She is one of three Muslim women elected to Parliament for the first time, along with Rushanara Ali in London and Yasmin Qureshi in Bolton.

A hung parliament

The election, held on 6 May, has produced a hung parliament, with no party winning an overall majority. The Conservatives are the largest party, and talks are taking place between the parties to decide who will form the next government.

How Birmingham voted

In Birmingham, Labour held most of its seats, although several were closer than at previous elections. In Edgbaston, Labour's Gisela Stuart held on in one of the closest contests in the city, while the Liberal Democrat John Hemming held Yardley. The Conservatives' Andrew Mitchell was re-elected in Sutton Coldfield.

New constituency boundaries came into force at this election, changing the shape of several Birmingham seats. Among them is the new seat of Hall Green, won by Labour's Roger Godsiff.

Council elections

Local council elections were held in Birmingham on the same day, with a third of the city council's seats up for election. Turnout was higher than usual because of the general election. The council has been run by a coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats since 2004, led by Mike Whitby.

About Ladywood

Ladywood, which covers the city centre and inner-city areas including Aston, Nechells and Soho, is one of the oldest constituencies in Birmingham, created in 1918. Its first MP was Neville Chamberlain, who later became Prime Minister. It includes some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country, as well as the city's business district and its fast-growing population of city centre residents.

Clare Short, a former international development secretary, represented the seat for 27 years. She resigned from Tony Blair's government in 2003 over the Iraq war and later sat as an independent.

A new generation

Ms Mahmood's election is being seen as a milestone for Muslim women in British public life. Birmingham has one of the largest Muslim communities in the country, and many in the city have welcomed her success.

As the new parliament meets, and the shape of the next government becomes clear, she will be one of a large intake of new MPs from across the country taking their seats for the first time.