In the words of local legend Noddy Holder, "iiiiiit's Chriiiistmas!" Well, it's almost, the festive season and at The Dispatch we are already getting merry, planning our big Christmas quiz! Join us for a fun evening and the chance to win £100 in cash on 18 December at the JQ's premier pub Temper and Brown. Tickets are £3 for Dispatch members and £4 for non-members - everyone is welcome.
It’s a rain-soaked Thursday afternoon on Castle Vale as I make my way down the High Street, the Christmas decorations that annually blanket the North Birmingham estate not yet illuminated. It’s cold. It’s wet. But behind the glass frontage of Spitfire House there is a warm glow and, most importantly, cups of tea.
Once the estate’s library, it now houses the YoungStars Community Hub and regularly hosts a Warm Space facility to give members of the public access to free heating. It’s a citywide initiative that councillor Ray Goodwin says “unashamedly came out of Castle Vale” after he first pitched the idea to the then cabinet member for social justice, cllr John Cotton. And few know Castle Vale better than Goodwin, who has been working for Spitfire Services for two decades, and continues to do so since his election as Labour Councillor for the ward in 2022.
Goodwin’s office is a collage of professional, political, and personal, with private files surrounded by dog treats, Birmingham City Football Club merch, and postcards of Ernest Bevin. On the wall behind his desk is a souvenir Gavin and Stacy tea towel, while above his computer hangs a large print of Che Guevara. Stuffed behind his monitor, buried underneath dust and tangled electrical cables, is a red rosette.
“Good leaders don’t have to be good people,” he says, of the Cuban revolutionary. “But the theory of good leadership is about how you mobilise and galvanise people, and get them to believe in something and take them in the same direction.”
Goodwin hasn’t forced his opponents into exile, nor has he presided over the execution of hundreds of political prisoners. But he admires Guevara for his leadership; he even wrote a dissertation on the differing approaches of Guevara and Gandhi. And whilst there is no Batista government to overthrow, Goodwin is still proud of the “quiet revolution” he sees Castle Vale residents undertaking – and is a fiercely vocal champion of his “amazing community”.
But when I ask about his role as chief whip of the Birmingham Labour group, Goodwin becomes less forthright. He was appointed after “an internal process” and says his “principles on leadership… enablement, social justice, equality, and a shared vision” got him over the line. But I’ll need to “ask the regional [Labour Party] office” for anything more, a response which will pepper our two hour conversation.
I ask Goodwin if he feels he is good in the role. I get silence, then another referral.
I raise the memo he sent out following the suspension of Oscott Councillor Barbara Dring, urging Labour councillors to cease communication with the 90-year-old Labour stalwart, a move which compelled Conservative councillor Deirdre Alden to decry the action in a full council meeting, and which the online political website Swawkbox reported left Goodwin “under investigation by the party over his conduct in the position”. Again, I am referred to the regional Labour Party office.
I ask about the leadership challenge against cllr Ian Ward in May 2022, the section 114 notice issued in September 2023, the subsequent cuts to services and increase in council tax, the recent deselections, and the ongoing bin strikes that have blighted the last three Birmingham Labour administrations.
At every step I am, again, deferred to the regional Labour Party office.
He is also reluctant to talk about Birmingham Labour’s chances in the May 2026 local elections. As Goodwin reiterates, he hasn’t “got a crystal ball”. But it’s hard to believe those with political skin in the game ahead of the May race are not thinking about it; the electorate are.
The stonewalling is frustrating to me. And I sense it’s beginning to irritate Goodwin; as he keeps saying, “it’s all on public record”, and as I keep responding, “but your opinion isn’t.”
For a man I have known for half a decade, known for his candour, there are some surprisingly quiet moments during our conversation. Especially as I’ve seen him veraciously fight in his resident’s corners before – such as when the Tyburn Neighbourhood Police Team (NPT), who deliver community policing on Castle Vale, were potentially going to be moved off the estate. Goodwin locked horns with everyone then, including the Labour police and crime commissioner. A NPT remains on the estate — although after reaching out to both Cllr Goodwin and The Pioneer Group for clarity, it's unclear how long for. Maybe watch this space.
This isn’t the Goodwin I know, and I suspect his wings may have been clipped. We were, until 24 hours ago, supposed to be going door knocking together, so that he could give a local journalist a first hand look at how local people respond when the councillor comes calling. But a somewhat perplexed (their word) regional Labour Party representative made it clear this wasn’t normal procedure, and my invitation was revoked. I asked why, and have yet to receive a response.
