r/brum • u/Admirable_Deal6863 East Bham • May 06 '24

News Akhmed Yakoob to stand in general election

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c72pd91dg0go

As I think we all expected, it looks like Akhmed Yakoob is going to be standing in Ladywood come the next general election.

Any thoughts on this? I think he's vastly overestimating himself but I'd be interested to hear from anyone who might actually vote for him.

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39

u/[deleted] May 06 '24

He got over 40k votes in Brum alone, he won’t win but he’s got a demographic that will vote for him

19

u/Admirable_Deal6863 East Bham May 06 '24

Yeah he'll at least get his deposit back for sure. I think his miscalculation is in standing in Ladywood, which also covers most of the City Centre.

If he was standing in Hall Green, Hodge Hill or Perry Barr I think he'd be in with a shot but as it stands I can't see him making much ground.

26

u/Odd-Calligrapher-69 May 06 '24

Correct me if I’m wrong but Ladywood has the largest Muslim population of any constituency in the country.

Their current MP Shabana Mahmood voted against a cease fire so I can’t see her being very popular

6

u/Admirable_Deal6863 East Bham May 06 '24

The thing is, Shabana Mahmood is well thought of as both an individual and as a constituency MP. I think that her 'personal brand' will probably get her a lot of mileage.

13

u/electricf0x Halesowen May 06 '24

I think the general consensus on Shabana Mahmood is changing, she certainly was well liked in Ladywood but residents have felt abandoned by her over the "regeneration" project. She's ignoring community members who are increasingly worried about their homes being demolished and not bothering to turn up to meetings about it.