'It's not just Gaza' Historically safe Labour seat where voters say party could struggle

On a Wednesday afternoon, despite the pouring rain, Alum Rock Road is buzzing.

- Jessica Murray

The busy thoroughfare in Birmingham is clogged with cars and families flit in and out of shops selling bowls of fruit, colourful fabrics and sizzling kebabs.

Every few metres a Palestinian flag is pinned in a shop window or draped off a lamp-post. The area has become a hub for pro-Palestine protests in the city, with hundreds attending a march and rally every Saturday, and gathering to hear speeches at what has been called "Alum Rock speakers' corner".

"It is literally the only issue that will decide how I vote in the general election," said one woman working in a dress shop. She said she would vote for "whichever candidate is speaking out about this", adding: "I used to watch the videos on social media every night but now I can't, I get too upset and start crying."

Under new boundary changes, Alum Rock (which has a 93.6% black, Asian and minority ethnic population) will become part of Birmingham Ladywood, one of the most ethnically diverse constituencies in the country and a melting pot of issues.

The seat has historically been one of Labour's safest, with the shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood winning a majority of 28,582 in 2019. But an independent candidate, Akhmed Yakoob, is standing against Mahmood on a largely pro-Palestine platform and after receiving almost 70,000 votes concentrated in innercity Birmingham - in May's West Midlands mayoral contest, he thinks he could severely dent Labour's chances of winning here.

He is capitalising on the backlash over the party's stance on Gaza, and Mahmood's abstention in a Commons vote on calling for a ceasefire last year (she, and the Labour party generally, have since said they do support a ceasefire in the Palestinian territory).