Labour’s Burden will not bid for MP again
VETERAN MP Richard Burden, who served Birmingham Northfield for 27 years, has announced he will not be seeking the chance to take on the Tory who ousted him.
In a statement, Burden said he would not be vying for the Labour candidacy to try to win back the seat lost in a tight contest to Conservative Gary Sambrook in 2019.
Instead he is throwing his political weight behind local councillor Alex Aitken, who he described as “the genuine article”.
Announcing it was “time to pass the baton on” he said he had been humbled by the lovely feedback he had received from residents as he campaigned alongside Aitken and other Labour candidates during the recent local elections.
He said it was “the privilege of my life” to represent Northfield for 27 years. “But there comes a time when it feels right to pass the baton on. For me, that time is now...I will not seek selection to be Labour’s candidate next time.”
He goes on: “There are a number of talented people who are seeking selection...each of them has strengths that would be assets for this area. However when I come to cast my vote as a local Labour member I will be backing Kings Norton North Councillor Alex Aitken.
“I have known and worked closely with Alex for years. He has lived all his life in the area and he is Northfield through and through.
“As a councillor he has proved himself to be a hard working and effective advocate for local people whose confidence in him was demonstrated when he increased his majority fourfold.
“There is also real depth to Alex’s politics, informed by his own life experience.
“He is pragmatic when circumstances demand it but always remains true to the principles that brought him to the Labour Party in the first place.
“Alex is the genuine article and I will be proud for him to represent me as my home MP.”
Mr Burden was MP for Northfield from 1992 until 2019. His defeat to Gary Sambrook in 2019, by was a shock but was part of multiple losses of so-called ‘red wall’ seats.
Cllr Aitken is one of two local Labour members to announce their candidacy for the chance to take on Mr Sambrook at the next general election, currently expected in May 2024.
However, if Boris Johnson were to be ousted as PM, a new incumbent might choose to call an election earlier.
Also vying for the selection is West Midlands assistant police and crime commissioner Tom McNeil.
He announced he was standing last week. He said he was standing because he wants to “make sure that Northfield’s future generations have the same opportunities he was given” and that as an elected MP would push for “a new era of investment in education, healthcare and the high-skilled jobs of tomorrow”.
Further candidates will have to declare their position shortly, with a vote for members due
to follow in July.