The neighbours who'll square up in a Sutton Coldfield by election
Oct 19 2009 by Neil Elkes, Birmingham Post
They are not your typical neighbours at war. There is no thumping drum-and-bass music, no late-night parties, no fly-tipping in the garden, no obscenities exchanged over the hedgerows or fisticuffs in the street.
Instead, the rival factions in Hawthorn Road, Sutton Coldfield trade banter over the latest crisis to beset Gordon Brown or David Cameron.
Neighbours David Barrie and Rob Pocock are candidates in the Birmingham City Council by-election for the Sutton New Hall ward on Thursday. In the blue corner is Mr Barrie, a life-long Suttonian, a Tory party member since 1974 and making his second appearance on a candidate list.
On the red side of the hedgerow is Rob Pocock, who has owned a Labour Party card for 25 years and is contesting an election in the Tory stronghold of Sutton Coldfield for the seventh time - with no victories to his name.
The pair have been neighbours since Rob moved in at No 23 six years ago. Rob said: “I started off thinking he was a decent bloke. Then I saw him parking a car with ‘Vote Conservative’ banners on it.”
David, who has lived at No 21 since 1986, said: “You have to question his political judgment, moving into a safe Tory seat.”
There is much political baiting and one-upmanship; although Rob admits he has kept a lower profile as Labour’s fortunes have declined, he remains optimistic of a turnaround.
Their exchanges are good-humoured, including a suggestion from No 21 that a portable toilet, for builders working on No 23, is actually the venue for the next Sutton Coldfield Labour Party conference. “We get on well, I haven’t tried to bury him in the garden yet,” David joked.
Their other halves are equally political. The romance between David and his wife Kay grew while both were Young Conservatives; Rob’s partner, Marje Bridle, has been a Labour councillor for Shard End since 1986.
The by-election follows the sudden death of Coun John Beadman.
nCandidates for the Sutton New Hall by-election are David Barrie (Conservative), Robert Hardware (Liberal Democrat), Robert Pocock (Labour) and Maddy Westrop (UKIP).
