Labour ’s Gisela Stuart again held the leafy Birmingham seat last time round and the bookies expect her to repeat the feat in 2015.
Despite Conservative challenger Deirdre Alden coming within 1,400 votes of her last time, William Hill, Paddy Power and Ladbrokes are all making Ms Stuart heavy odds on.
She is 1/7 with William Hill, 1/5 with Ladbrokes and 2/9 with Paddy Power.
All make it a two-horse race at best, with rival Dr Luke Evans from the Conservatives seen as second favourite. The GP is seen as a 4/1 shot by William Hill, 10/3 by Ladbrokes and 11/4 by Paddy Power.
UKIP ’s Graham Short is given odds of between 66/1 and 80/1 to take the seat while the Liberal Democrats ’ Lee Dargue is between 150/1 and 100/1. Phil Simpson will stand for the Greens.
Lord Ashcroft’s poll into Birmingham Edgbaston suggests support has grown for incumbent Ms Stuart in the past four years.
She secured 41 per cent of the vote in 2010, against 38 per cent for her Conservative rival, while the most recent poll shows an eight per cent swing from the Tories to Labour. The poll, from August this year, showed 29 per cent for the Conservatives and 48 per cent for Ms Stuart.
All odds are subject to change and were correct at the time this story was written.
We have used all photographs we were able to find from our archives and sourcing online.
