Labour wins by-election as Birmingham Erdington elects city’s first Black MP

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Labour has won the Birmingham Erdington by-election with an increased vote share of 55.5% on a low turnout of 27%. “Even in a traditionally low turnout seat with a well-known Tory candidate, we’ve seen a swing to Labour with voters,” a Labour spokesperson pointed out when the result came through. The contest was triggered by the death of Jack Dromey, to whom winning candidate Paulette Hamilton paid tribute in her speech as “the kind of MP I aspire to be”. Dromey’s vote shares were approximately: 42% in 2010; 46% in 2015; 58% in 2017; 50% in 2019. During the New Labour years, it varied between 53% and 59%. The latest win may not be extraordinary, but it is good.

Up against the Tory council group leader known as “Mr Erdington”, and with bad weather particularly towards the end of polling day, Labour was nervous last night. Canvassers reported apathy on the doorstep, faulty data and too many voters not knowing there was a by-election on. Some of that was borne out by the very low turnout: half that of the already low general election figure, with almost three quarters of Erdington voters choosing not to vote this time. The cautious and the sceptical will wonder: with the Tories engulfed in scandal after scandal, including a police investigation albeit one that is currently overshadowed by the war in Ukraine, should people not be more enthusiastic about giving the government a good kicking?

Ultimately, there was a swing away from the Tories and a solid Labour victory. And this by-election probably doesn’t tell us all that much about Labour’s electoral changes at the next general election. Perhaps the most important aspect of this result is that Hamilton has made history by becoming the city’s first Black MP. “Can I say to you? That question is quite deep, because I didn’t plan to become an MP,” she replied when I asked her about this potential feat last week. “My dad was a factory worker. He died the Saturday after I was selected to become an MP. And it’s something that is bittersweet, because for the first few weeks I could not understand why my dad was not here. But it means a lot. It means a lot.”

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