A new direction for Harborne?
Street's protégé, Ashvir Sangha, takes on Labour
Good morning Patchers — welcome to your Friday briefing.
We’ve had a big response online to our heartbreaking investigation into the death of a teenage asylum seeker in a Birmingham hotel. Thanks to everyone who shared it and if you haven’t read it yet, you can do here.
Today we have news of an election candidate who is hoping to take Harborne from Labour using Andy Street’s ethos and hear from market traders who are less convinced by the Conservative Party. Plus, an interview with a local researcher on the radical response to the AIDS crisis, a shoutout to a traditional Birmingham boozer in a national paper and a couple of musical events for your calendar. Enjoy.
Brum in brief
🗳️Everything to play for: Would-be MPs have shifted into gear following Rishi Sunak’s shock election call. One such hopeful is Ashvir Sangha, the Conservative candidate for Edgbaston who is taking on Labour’s Preet Gill and her small majority of just over 5,000 seats. Sangha, who stood as an independent in the 2021 mayoral election before withdrawing to work as Andy Street’s communications advisor for the last three years, is applying his former boss and mentor’s ethos to his own campaign. He told The Dispatch he will adopt his former boss’s approach by being: local, proactive and independent-minded. Asked by ITV if he is confident given that his party is 20 points behind Labour in the polls, he said: “Anything can happen”.
📖Radical writing: A lot of readers got in touch with kind words about our feature on the AIDS crisis in Birmingham in the 1980s. That story was informed by an interview with George Severs and his new book Radical Acts which he talks about in this interesting Q&A with the National HIV Story Trust.
😴Changing lanes: Rishi Sunak says the economy has bounced back but Birmingham market-traders are less certain. Even lifelong Conservative voters are considering switching allegiances, although it doesn’t look like Keir Starmer’s party is appealing either. "The political soundbites are obviously all out there already,” said trader Steve Waters. "And I have to say it's sounding pretty boring already."
🍻Give it some welly: One of The Dispatch’s favourite Birmingham pubs, The Wellington, was mentioned in this letter to the Financial Times from a reader in Cornwall. Their gripe? That since we’ve all been encouraged to pay by card, few of us know how much we are spending on beer. Not so at The Wellington where (like most of the Black Country Ales boozers) prices, origin and tasting notes are on full display. Plus: they have a great crisp selection.
🎤B-Side Hip Hop Festival will take place at various spots in town from 6-9 June. Celebrating 40 years of Hip-Hop in Brum, the event will feature (among workshops and performances) a screening of a new film about the emergence of the genre in Birmingham.
🎶Duff duffs: Who doesn’t love a club cameo? If you fancy listening to tunes from the 80s and getting a glimpse of Spandau Ballet/Eastenders alumnus Martin Kemp on the decks head to Luna Springs in Digbeth on Saturday. Tickets £30 — shocking retro fashion encouraged.
Regarding the piece about prices of beer. When, as a student, I worked in a pub, admittedly 60 years ago, I understood that it was a legal requirement to display the price of beets, though this was often done in a most inconspicuous place!
I would have liked to read the FT letter about beer prices and the Wellington, but it's paywalled. Such links are a bit irritating.