General election 2024 confirmed candidates for Northfield constituency

With the general election now around four weeks away, one Birmingham constituency to keep an eye on in the coming days is Northfield. Back in 2019, the Conservatives managed to win the seat and turn Northfield blue for the first time in 27 years.

Gary Sambrook secured 19,957 votes and won with a majority of 1,640 over Labour's Richard Burden, who received 18,317 votes. It was the only constituency in the city of Birmingham to change party hands during the general election that year.

Five years later and the Conservatives will be fighting to keep the seat while facing opposition from the Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Green Party, Reform, Common Good and two independents. With that in mind, here are the candidates confirmed to be running in the Northfield constituency so far via the Who Can I Vote For? website or the political parties themselves.

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• Jerry Evans - Liberal Democrats

• Robert Andrew Grant - Green Party

• Dean Gwilliam - Independent

• Altaf Hussain - Independent

• Stephen Richard Peters - Reform UK

• Dick Rodgers - Common Good

• Gary Sambrook - Conservative Party

• Laurence David Russell Turner - Labour Party

The candidates

The Conservative candidate: Gary Sambrook

Following the announcement of the general election last month, Gary Sambrook said he was proud to stand as the Conservative candidate in this year’s general election, writing on his website that he has delivered for local people and tackled “decades of neglect.” He says he has previously worked on school rebuilding projects, funding for West Works and improvements at Kings Norton train station.

He has also slammed Labour-run Birmingham City Council ’s budget cuts in the past and campaigned to ‘save’ weekly bin collections as well as libraries in the area. The council's financial predicament is down to Birmingham-specific issues, such as an equal pay fiasco and the disastrous implementation of a new IT and finance system, as well as the rising demand for services and funding cuts.

Council leader John Cotton previously criticised the Conservative government and argued councils across the country face a perfect storm of smaller budgets and higher costs while Tory politicians, such as Rishi Sunak, have pointed the finger at the mistakes made by the Labour council administration.

The Labour Party candidate: Laurence Turner

The Labour Party candidate is Laurence Turner, who has worked for the GMB trade union and wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “It is a privilege to represent Northfield Labour and fight for change after 14 years of Tory failure. “I will work hard every day to deliver Labour's plan and repay the faith that has been shown in me.”

He added that residents had reportedly raised "serious issues" about crime, the NHS and housing, adding: "We are working hard for every vote."

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The Liberal Democrat candidate: Dr Jerry Evans

Dr Jerry Evans, who was a councillor and an archaeologist during his professional career, is the Liberal Democrat candidate running for Northfield. He says he is standing on a broad platform but policies that Dr Evans is particularly proud to stand by are the Lib Dems’ plan to recruit 8,000 more GPs and reform NHS dentistry.

The Green Party candidate: Rob Grant

He also supports plans to extend free school meals to every child in primary school and secondary school pupils whose families receive Universal Credit. Meanwhile the Green Party candidate is Rob Grant, who is currently a Birmingham councillor for Kings Norton South.

Mr Grant says he wants to use his experience representing the people of that ward to make politics work better for local people and make sure people can have a real say in decisions that affect them. Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay added: “We are offering the common sense, affordable policies that will dramatically improve our quality of life.”

The Reform Party candidate: Stephen Peters

Stephen Peters, a local resident for the past 45 years, is running for the Reform Party. “As a retired person living on a modest fixed income I know how the cost-of-living, soaring crime and problems in the NHS have affected every family; and that Reform UK policies will help everyone living in Birmingham Northfield,” he wrote on the Reform website.

“I want to restore pride in our country with fairness and justice for all.”

Dick Rodgers - Common Good

Dick Rodgers is a candidate for Common Good, which describes itself as a small political party. Its website reads: "Britain needs a unifying national purpose – namely, to work to make the world a better place and at home, to model the kind of healthy, kindly, more equal society that is in keeping with such a purpose."

Independents - Dean Gwilliam and Altaf Hussain

Dean Gwilliam and Altaf Hussain are running as independents in the constituency. Mr Gwilliam says he is very much for Northfield's "little" people and adds he has a track record of fighting for their interests and rights.

If elected, he wants to fight to control the borders, push for utilities to be renationalised and support WASPI women. Another priority of his is making sure poorer children get the educational resources they need.

Mr Hussain said he wanted to hear from voters and what changes they want to see in their local area. In a post on social media, he said that many residents have reportedly claimed that the area has gone downhill but went on to say that together they can recover it.

He continued that he is working with lots of charities and supporting the youth with various sports. If elected as MP, he says he will push to bring the changes that residents desire.

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