The Erdington constituency is one of Birmingham’s ten parliamentary constituencies. It represents the wards of Castle Vale, Erdington, Gravelly Hill, Kingstanding, Perry Common, Pype Hayes and Stockland Green
It has a total population of 97,778, the third smallest population of all the constituencies in the city according to a census in 2015. There are over 62,000 working-age residents living there, and who are predominantly white, compared to the city average.
In the 2017 General Election, voter backed Labour’s Jack Dromer with 21,571 votes, compared to Robert Alden who only received 14,286.
Let’s rundown who’s standing for parliament when we go to the polls on Thursday 12 December,
Labour: Jack Dromey
Jack Dromey has been an MP since 2010 and has campaigned to increase school and police funding, as well as tackling dangerous biking. He is married to MP Harriet Harman and has three children.
Dromey has also campaigned for more funding for the NHS, along with his party who has promised to spend more on the NHS in England than the Tories, if it wins the general election.
Today the Labour party announced it would spend £4.5m on 82 new police officers to tackle wildlife crimes, protecting animals and rural communities.
Conservative: Robert Alden
If the last election is anything to go by, Robert Alden is arguably Dromey’s main competition. Alden is leader of the conservative party in Birmingham and has been a member of Birmingham City Council for 13 years.
Alden also protested against the demolition of the Perry Barr flyover requesting the Labour-led council to suspend the plan and reconsider.
“We urge Birmingham Labour, even at this eleventh hour, to heed the requests from Walsall and Sandwell councils and Highways England to suspend plans and look at the cumulative impact of all the work they are doing on the rest of the road and public transport network in North Birmingham and further afield before committing to £30m on a vanity project.”
Robert Alden
Liberal Democrats: Ann Holtom
Ann Holtom was born and brought up in Erdington and was a local Councillor for Tyburn Ward for ten years up to 2012.
She has campaigned to improve the area throughout her career on issues such as the railway link between Castle Vale, The Fort and the City Centre which could create potential employment opportunities. She has also petitioned on road safety issues and has fought to save local swimming pools from closure.
Ann gained a BA (Hons) in Housing and Community Studies at Birmingham City University.
Green Party: Rob Grant
Rob has been working as a college lecturer in Birmingham for the past 11 years. He has campaigned to empower school communities to take the decisions which are best for them and reverse the drive to take the management of schools away from local councils.
“Whatever our future relationship with Europe, I will work to support good inter-community relationships within Erdington and to empower community decision making. We must not allow national politicking to divide us.”
Rob Grant
He also had promised to secure jobs, access to decent housing with realistic sustainable solutions.
Brexit party: Wendy Garcarz
Wendy Garcarz is a 59-year-old local businesswoman who had run a management consultancy and training company for the past 25 years. Her campaign has 5 pledges for Erdington:
- Support young families and tackling child poverty.
- Help young people into meaningful work.
- Improve local care services for the elderly and mentally ill
- Address the causes of knife crime and anti-social behavior
- Providing affordable, safe and clean public transportation.
She also had vowed to develop the talents and capabilities of the region rather than focusing only on the prosperity of the region.
Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn will face each other tonight on the first TV debate of the election campaign.
The head-to-head between the Conservative and Labour leaders, hosted by news presenter Julie Etchingham, will be shown on ITV at 8pm.
