Paulette Hamilton wins Erdington by-election

Paulette Hamilton has won the Birmingham Erdington by-election for Labour, becoming the first black MP to represent a Birmingham constituency.

The result was declared in the early hours of 4 March, after polling on Thursday 3 March. Turnout was 27 per cent, with 17,016 ballot papers counted. Labour held the seat on an increased majority.

Why there was a by-election

The by-election was called after the death of Jack Dromey, who had been Erdington's MP since 2010. He died suddenly at his flat in Birmingham on 7 January. The day before, he had spoken in a Commons debate on the resettlement of Afghan refugees in the UK.

Labour has held Birmingham Erdington since the seat was re-established in 1974.

The new MP

Paulette Hamilton is a Birmingham city councillor and was the council's cabinet member for health and social care, a role that put her at the forefront of the city's response to the pandemic. She was selected as Labour's candidate in a virtual hustings of party members.

Her main challenger was the Conservative Robert Alden, the leader of the Conservative group on the city council, who had contested the seat at the previous four general elections.

The candidates

A total of 12 candidates stood. As well as Labour and the Conservatives, they included the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, Reform UK, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, whose candidate, the former Coventry MP Dave Nellist, won 360 votes, the Christian Peoples Alliance, the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, the Militant Bus-Pass Elvis Party and three independents. There were 59 rejected ballot papers.

Low turnout

The turnout of 27 per cent is low even by the standards of by-elections, which usually attract fewer voters than general elections. The campaign took place in the middle of winter, and national events, including the war in Ukraine, dominated the news in the final days.

A constituency with challenges

Erdington, in the north east of the city, includes some of Birmingham's most deprived neighbourhoods. During the campaign, candidates were asked about jobs, the cost of living, crime and the state of Erdington High Street, whose bid for government regeneration funding was turned down last autumn.

The new MP will be expected to press for investment in the area, which has seen the city centre boom while many of its own shops and services have struggled.

A historic result

Birmingham is one of the most diverse cities in the country, but Paulette Hamilton becomes the first black MP elected to represent any of its constituencies. She will take her seat in the House of Commons in the coming days.

Her victory continues a long Labour tradition in the seat, and she is expected to focus on the local issues raised during the campaign, drawing on her years of work on health and social care in the city, including through the pandemic.