Labour has won the South West Birmingham ward of Allens Cross in the local elections, amid a night of gains and losses for the party across the city.
Jack Deakin, the Labour candidate for the ward, won by a mere 14 votes, unseating the Conservative candidate, Eddie Freeman. The Allens Cross results were as follows:
| Candidate | Party | Votes |
| Jack Deakin | Labour and Co-operative | 922 |
| Claire Fielden | Liberal Democrats | 62 |
| Eddie Freeman | Conservative | 908 |
| Daniel Rust | Green | 112 |
A mixed night for Labour in Birmingham
The night has undoubtedly been a mixed one for Labour. The party has had gains in wards like Allens Cross, Castle Vale, and Perry Common, but have also had some high profile losses, such as cabinet member John O’Shea in Acocks Green. Labour will retain its majority on the council, albeit a slightly reduced one.
Turnout was also down among most wards in Birmingham. The numbers were slightly down in Allens Cross, with 2,010 total voters compared to 2,189, but these decreases were considerably less than other wards across the city.
This had been a ward which we at Central Bylines have been covering closely, with a grant from the Public Interest News Foundation. We highlighted local issues, community organisations, and the state of the campaign. In the weekend before the election, we posted 4,500 gazettes with Central Bylines articles through doors in the ward.
While it’s impossible to say what our impact was, hopefully we encouraged people to show up to the polls, and gave them accurate information on the election and candidates.
Reactions to Deakin’s win
After the win, Deakin told Central Bylines:
“It was nailbiting, but I’m both proud and humbled by your support. During the campaign, we knocked on the doors of local people across the entire ward 5 times; we spoke to 1500 people by the end of it. To those who voted for me – thank you, to those who didn’t, I hope I can still do good by you as your councillor. I won’t let you down.”
No response has been seen from either Freeman or the Birmingham Conservative Party, who have lost several councillors.
