Sutton Coldfield
Conservative hold

Sir Norman Fowler really is retiring from the Commons, whether to spend more time with his family or not, and he will bequeath a very safe seat to the former Nottinghamshire MP Andrew Mitchell. Sutton Coldfield has been subsumed into Birmingham City Council, probably to the distaste of many of its voters, whio always return Conservative candiodates with very large majorities in the three big wards of Vesey, New Hall and, most of all, Four Oaks. This is a seat which is untypical of the rest of Birmingham in all respects: affluence, almost uniformly middle class and owner occupied, and 97pc white. The residents have some kind of a point; this is not really "Brum" at all.

Andrew Mitchell, a merchant banker with Lazards, one of five former MPs who have been selected for safe Conservative seats, was previously (1987-97) MP for Gedling. Son of a former MP (Sir David Mitchell), he was born in 1956, and educated at Rugby, Sandhurst and Jesus College, Cambridge and worked first in his family's wine-importing (El Vino) business before moving to merchant banking, Swiftly rising by 1988 as PPS to William Waldegrave and John Wakeham, he was a Whip by 1992 and a junior social security minister by 1995. He made headlines as the first Tory Whip on the Members' Interests' Committee, attacked by a sit-in by Labour MP Dale Campbell-Savours protesting against Mitchell's mobilising of the committee's Conservative majority in defence of Neil Hamilton.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 45.67% 14.99% 304.61 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.00% 2.13% 0.00 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 2.21% 2.49% 88.82 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 8.39% 4.43% 189.53 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 6.52% 7.27% 89.61 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 2.30% 2.56% 89.77 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.70% 2.04% 34.14 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.00% 3.94% 0.00 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 23.76% 13.04% 182.22 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 0.56% 12.70% 4.42 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 4.72% 8.14% 57.90 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 0.36% 4.02% 8.92 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 1.69% 3.19% 53.00 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 2.25% 11.31% 19.85 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.89% 3.06% 29.00 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 0.00% 2.52% 0.00 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.00% 0.06% 0.00

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 5.80% 9.41% 61.61 £5-10K 11.33% 16.63% 68.10 £10-15K 13.12% 16.58% 79.16 £15-20K 12.38% 13.58% 91.13 £20-25K 10.68% 10.39% 102.74 £25-30K 8.83% 7.77% 113.54 £30-35K 7.15% 5.79% 123.36 £35-40K 5.73% 4.33% 132.20 £40-45K 4.58% 3.27% 140.13 £45-50K 3.65% 2.48% 147.23 £50-55K 2.92% 1.90% 153.58 £55-60K 2.35% 1.47% 159.28 £60-65K 1.89% 1.15% 164.41 £65-70K 1.53% 0.91% 169.02 £70-75K 1.25% 0.72% 173.20 £75-80K 1.02% 0.57% 176.98 £80-85K 0.83% 0.46% 180.41 £85-90K 0.69% 0.37% 183.54 £90-95K 0.57% 0.31% 186.40 £95-100K 0.47% 0.25% 189.02 £100K + 2.70% 1.34% 200.59