The Labour party has held onto their seat in the Birmingham constituency of Erdington, increasing their proportion of votes by 5%.
The seat was previously held by Jack Dromey, a Labour MP who died of a heart attack in January.
The Labour party’s candidate, Paulette Hamilton, won the seat with a majority of 3,266, with a vote share of 55% of votes, up from 50% in 2019. Some Labour supporters had worried that the conflict in Ukraine may have resulted in a rise in support of the party of the serving Prime Minister, but these fears were evidently unfounded.
The Conservative party candidate, Robert Alden, came in second with 36.3% of the vote, with Transport Union and Socialist Coalition candidate Dave Nellist coming in third with 2.1%. The Liberal Democrats achieved fewer than 200 votes.
The turnout for the vote was considerably lower than at the last general election, with only 27% of the constituency’s electorate taking part compared to 50% in the general election.
The Conservative candidate said:
“This is a seat that has been Labour over the last 85 years… the fact the majority is so small here today is really a damning indictment where the Labour party is nationally”
Hamilton had been the subject of some controversy before the by-election, with footage emerging of controversial comments she had made at a Black Unity event in 2015.
Labour leader Keir Starmer following the Labour victory:
“Jack would be smiling this morning… looking down seeing that baton being passed to Paulette, a champion of working people for Erdington.”
https://twitter.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1499665391559323650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>March
Hamilton said, in her victory speech:
“I never thought I’d be running to be an MP, but the fact that I am now not only the MP for Erdington but the first black woman – the first woman to ever get the position – I am delighted and I am still pinching myself.”
“I’d also like to say a special thank you to Kier Starmer for his endless support – even when my dad died, they were there, they wrapped me in cotton wool, and they supported me, and my dad isn’t even buried yet but they were there when I was crying.”
