Erdington, a working class district just north of Birmingham city centre, has been represented by Labour MP Robin Corbett since 1983, when he defeated the Conservative candidate by a very narrow margin. Since then, he has steadily increased his majority so that in 1997 it stood at 12,657 votes.
This is a very urbanised seat, with the M5 motorway forming its western border and Spaghetti Junction situated at Gravelly Hill to the south west. Unemployment is high, though typically so for an inner city area.
The seat covers the former Spitfire works at Castle Bromwich, which now hosts a Jaguar plant employing 2,200 people. Castle Bromwich also plays host to car component producers and Dunlop, which makes sports and aircraft tyres there.
Housing is one of the most important issues in the constituency, with the country’s largest Housing Action Trust in the Castle Vale area and Europe’s largest council estate in the Kingstanding ward.
There is a great deal of redevelopment of the stock currently taking place, particularly on the Pype Hayes estate, where 110 acres are being redeveloped at a cost of more than £40m to build 1,200 properties and refurbish others. Overall, council housing provides one third of accommodation in the constituency.