Is Labour losing inner cities?
Is Labour losing inner cities?
Plus: The Bull statue creator has died
Good morning Patchers — Happy Friday.
Today’s BiB is election-light. Our reflection on the elections (excuse the rhyme) will be coming out in a Saturday 6pm special. Dan and I will be focusing on the Black Country, especially Dudley where the competition is fierce. Plus: all the colour from the mayoral race count tomorrow. The competition remains close — so close, in fact, we’ve heard even senior officers at the WMCA are unsure who will be sitting in the Mayor’s office on Tuesday morning. We’ll be back with more tomorrow.
Brum in brief
🌹Labour lull: OK, one bit of election info we can give you is we have heard Labour is not doing well in the inner cities around the country — at this stage. Speculation suggests this is down to backlash to the party’s position on the Israel-Gaza war. However, outside of urban centres, Labour is apparently pretty happy with their performance so far. Let’s see how it plays out in the West Mids counts today.
🐂Brummie icon: The sculptor who designed the Bullring bull statue has died, aged 88. Laurence Broderick was known for his smaller animal creations, often otters, made from stone and bronze. He won the Birmingham commission in 2003, aged 70 and modelled the work on the Hereford bull. It has since become an iconic spot in the city centre, which Broderick enjoyed. Responding to public outcry when the statue was damaged in 2006 he said: “It’s doing really what I wanted it to do. It’s uniting the people of Birmingham.”
🎹‘Remarkable musician’: Tributes have poured in over the last 24-hours for Electric Light Orchestra’s (ELO) keyboardist Richard Tandy who has passed away. ELO’s lead singer announced the news on social media, saying: “He was a remarkable musician and friend and I’ll cherish the lifetime of memories we had together.”
📷Come together: B:Music’s month-long collaboration with Abbey Road Studios begins on Monday 13th May. The centre piece is an exhibition of the winning and shortlisted images from Abbey Road’s 2023 Music Photography Awards, alongside a series of masterclasses, live music, panel discussions and more. Find out more here.
🎨Art in the alley: A brand new mural by the artist Bunny Bread — who created the Benjamin Zephaniah mural in Handsworth Park — will be unveiled on Saturday. Part of a project called These Streets are Made for Walking, making streets and alleyways more beautiful places to be, the art work adorns the alley wall between Brunswick Road and Antrobus Road. You can see it between 12-2pm then head on a tour of all Handsworth’s murals.
the age old question..."but is it art Darling"? i dont know the answer either.
Wondering around Digbeth I enjoy the splashes of colour of some murals especially the houses that are completely covered and form a work of art in themselves. Other "work" like on the canal between Brindley Place and Aston University is just plain old vandalism with repetitive meaningless junk the central theme. What's legal and illegal? Can you get one without the other?