Erdington by-election: voters reject Tory for might-as-well-be-Tory
All smiles: but now Paulette Hamilton will have to prove she deserved to win Birmingham Erdington – and, with Keir Starmer’s pale Tory policies in a hugely-deprived constituency, that won’t be easy.
Let’s discuss the elephant in the room first: socialist candidate Dave Nellist caused a tremor in UK politics by coming third in the Birmingham Erdington by-election.
He beat candidates from Reform UK, the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats.
But he only received 360 votes and the result is unlikely to disturb the plans of either the second-placed Conservatives (6,147 votes) or the winner, Paulette Hamilton of the Keir Starmer Party (currently still misnaming itself as Labour).
Turnout was extremely low, with just 27 per cent of the 67,598-strong electorate bothering to vote. So the real winner was “none of the above” – and it seems the worst enemy of democracy in the UK is still a bit of rain.
And the fact that the turnout was low means news reports of vote shares are skewed (being based on the shares parties received of votes cast, rather than shares of the electorate.
The Starmer Party didn’t increase its vote share from 50 to 55 per cent, as is being claimed in the press.
The late Jack Dromey’s 17,720 votes in 2019 netted him just 26.8 per cent of the possible vote, ahead of Tory Robert Alden, whose 14,119 votes totalled 21.3 per cent of the electorate.
The two main parties’ shares of the possible votes were reduced to 14 per cent for the Starmer Party’s Paulette Hamilton (9,413 votes) and just 9.1 per cent for the Tories’ Robert Alden (6,147 votes).
Starmer has made much of his representative’s win, saying she has “made history”. He meant this was because she was the first black person, and the first woman, to take the constituency’s seat.
But it would be more accurate to say she made history by winning the seat with the lowest number of voters supporting her in the entire history of the constituency.
Undoubtedly some readers will want to suggest that pointing this out is just sour grapes on This Writer’s part, as I supported Mr Nellist and he won fewer than one per cent of the available votes. I’d say that was a fair comment. This was a missed opportunity, in my view.
But everybody has to start somewhere and this shows that left-wing politics in the UK is not dead.
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Sadly, parties on the Left have never gained anything but derisory small vote share in elections for decades now. So it is not a start of anything.
I find my potential new party’s name, Over 50s party, an interestingly irritating party name, so not easily forgotten, and says it what it says on the tin, as they say.
But cunning is as cunning does, that whilst the Over 50s party is unique for women aged over 50, after we became National Insurance and state pension experts as 1950s ladies thieved of our state pension, it brings policies to help all ages, from ages 1 to 100.
Within Over 50s party is Corbyn’s legacy, being as it was not his manifesto they went after, but the man.
Within the manifesto is also unique workplace bullying policies, after years of being in a support group.
Starmer is trying to chase the Grey Vote, not realising he cannot offer anything, as right wing Labour were even worse than the Tories, until the Lib Dems came along and were worst of all.
Look up the manifesto and see if you can promote the party –
over50sparty org uk
One point: a party on the left gained more than 40 per cent of the national vote in two general elections (2017 and 2019). Sadly, Labour then chose to make Keir Starmer leader and he has brought the party to a skidding halt and turned it to the far right.