The death of Mr Harriet Harman means there will be yet another Westminster by-election in the near future. Jack Dromey died suddenly over the weekend at the age of 73, having spoken in the Commons the previous day complaining that the government is not doing enough for Afghan 'refugees'. Cue lots of glowing tributes from across the establishment and no mention of the numerous scandals he was embroiled in during his life.
Originally from Brent, Dromey spent years trying to get himself parachuted into a safe seat before he finally made it as the candidate for Birmingham Erdington in 2010. Erdington had been held by Labour since 1945, albeit mostly as a marginal. Dromey held the seat for Labour in 2010 with a 3,277 majority, followed by 5,129 in 2015, 7,285 in 2017 and 3,601 in 2019. If the Tories were not in such a desperate state at the moment, they might have fancied their chances here.
A date for the by-election has not yet been decided.
Birmingham Erdington 2019 general election
Jack Dromey (Lab) 17,720 (50.3%) -7.7%
Robert Alden (Con) 14,119 (40.1%) +1.7%
Wendy Garcarz (Brexit) 1,441 (4.1%) New
Ann Holtom (LDem) 1,301 (3.7%) +1.7%
Rob Grant (Grn) 648 (1.8%) +0.2%