Inner city pressure: General Election 2024 preview

What to watch out for

Good morning Patchers — welcome to your Thursday briefing.

Today we take a look at the key storylines emerging ahead of the general election. Labour are 27 points ahead in the polls but a lot can happen in six weeks — we’ve spoken with politicians, campaigners and experts to get a bit more detail on where to pay attention in Birmingham throughout the race.

To balance things out a bit, we’ve kept your Brum in brief light on politics. There is some exciting sports news, the city gets its own theme song and we’ve recommended an interesting architectural event taking place this Sunday.

As is usual in the mid-week, for free readers, the main story will be paywalled a few paragraphs down. This is because our future success depends on us getting as many paying members as possible. We want to bring you gripping stories and inside detail as this election unfolds in the coming weeks — not rushed clickbait or hastily written articles. Please consider joining for £8 a month to get access to all of our words and future events. Thank you.

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Brum in brief

🏀Super league: Birmingham is set to have its first ever professional netball team. With the aim to elevate the sport to “unprecedented heights” and set a “bold new standard for elite performance”, The Birmingham Panthers franchise promises to establish a strong pipeline of local talent from grassroots to the professional level. More details are due to come next month but we can confirm the Panthers will represent Birmingham in the 2025 Netball Super League — the UK’s top-level competition featuring ten teams from around the country. We’ll keep you updated on this exciting development for sport in the city.

The Birmingham Panthers logo.

🎸School of rock: Local rock musicians have created a new anthem for Birmingham called ‘Brummie Steel’, written by poet laureate Jasmine Gardosi. The Brum Rocks project has come out of the collectives set up by charity Misfits Music who run regular jamming sessions in neighbourhoods across the city and is open to anyone aged 18+. “At a time when, as Brummies, we are faced with a lot of demoralising news, to be able to do something for morale — to give people hope, remind people of their grit — I feel very honoured,” said Gardosi.

⛪20th Century box: St Peter’s Church in Hall Green is the newest church to be listed with the 20th Century Society (C20). This Sunday, you can pay a visit for a talk on its collection of exquisite Dalle-de-verre glass, by artist Tristan Ruhlmann. Led by Katriona Byrne of Birmingham City University, with Dalle-de-verre expert Jo Prinsen, and vicar Martin Stephenson, the event starts at 3pm. Tickets are £10 for C20 members or £20 for non-members.

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Inner city pressure: General Election 2024 preview

By Kate Knowles

“I think this is one of the most important elections since the Second World War,” Birmingham City University economist Steve McCabe tells me. The mess that the next administration inherits will be beyond anything that Liam Byrne, the Labour MP for Hodge Hill, could have imagined in 2010 when he left his infamous “there’s no money left” note for his Tory successor in the Treasury. “How are they going to repair the damage?” says McCabe. “Everything feels like it’s broken.”

With such a daunting prospect ahead of them, it’s a wonder any political party wants the job. Yet they do — and since Rishi Sunak called his surprise election in the rain outside Number 10 last week, politicians across the region have been scrambling to respond. The national picture suggests a big swing towards Labour. In Birmingham, they hold eight out of ten seats, and the party has its sights set on winning back Northfield from the Tories. The Black Country is more divided, with Wolverhampton West a key battleground.

But while Labour will undoubtedly benefit from the anti-Tory public mood, there are some key variables that have the potential to stymie their success — not least a wavering Muslim vote over their stance on Gaza. What’s more, the party is yet to confirm its candidates for a fifth of its seats in Birmingham — and two more candidates have just dropped out of the race. With six weeks to go until we head to the polls, The Dispatch has spoken to MPs, councillors, activists and experts to find out what to watch out for in the general election.