Birmingham: Labour holds seat in Erdington by-election

Labour has held on to its Birmingham Erdington seat.

Paulette Hamilton, the Birmingham City Council cabinet member for health and social care, polled 9,413 votes, 55% of ballots cast.

Twelve candidates stood in the election and the turnout was 27%, compared to 53% in the 2019 general election.

The by-election was held following the death of veteran MP Jack Dromey, 73, in January, who had held the seat since 2010.

Robert Alden, also a city council member, had been vying to become the first Conservative MP for the constituency since 1936.

He won 6,147, or 36% of votes, giving Ms Hamilton, a nurse of 25 years, a majority of 3,266.

Some 17,016 ballots had been cast in the election, in an electorate of 62,996.

Mr Dromey, a shadow minister married to fellow Labour MP Harriet Harman, had made his name in politics through the union movement, as a leading figure in the Transport and General Workers' Union, which later became Unite.