As Keir Starmer faces the prospect of a leadership challenge, former Labour voters in Birmingham Yardley are feeling a peculiar sort of anxiety - the kind that comes from realising the person you've been calling a rat or a donkey might actually be your only option.
A month ago, a focus group convened by More in Common had very little good to say about the prime minister. But in a second gathering during local election week, the same constituents sounded distinctly worried about the idea of Labour MPs giving him the boot. Bob, an engineering manager, summed it up: 'I don't know if it would be better off without him, because at the moment things aren't good, but things could always get worse. Sometimes it's better the devil you know than whoever you don't. Not that we know him, because he doesn't say much.' Emma, who works in a special educational needs school, nodded along: 'I was going to say the same thing, better the devil you know sometimes.'
When talk turned to replacements, Terry, a secondary school teacher, identified some possible contenders. 'There's Angela Rayner, his old deputy, and there's - what's his name? - the king of the north guy.' He said Rayner and Andy Burnham were 'very working class but also much more relatable,' before adding: 'As Bob says, would things actually be better? We don't know what Keir Starmer's doing... he may be a genius behind the scenes, and he may be the only thing keeping us out of an actual war. But all we hear about is the Mandelson scandal, and this scandal and that scandal. He needs to be more forthright about the good.' Terry also brought up the lingering memory of Starmer's early blunders: 'We've still got the bad taste of when they tried to take money from the pensioners when they first came in.'
Dean, a lorry driver, echoed the uncertainty despite the Mandelson scandal. 'I think he's managed to worm his way out of that one. Should he quit over it? I don't know. Because you're not going to find a perfect prime minister.' Still, the group craved change. Kayla, who works in retail, expressed frustration that 'everything's going up - petrol, going out - apart from our wages.' Dan, a younger member, said he was attracted to Reform but just wanted a more effective administration: 'People want change, so whether you go Green or Reform, it's something different. If someone came out from any party tomorrow and said, we're going to fix all the potholes and take care of the rubbish, they'd have my vote immediately.'
Two others had a positive view of the Greens. Terry thought Zack Polanski was 'very outspoken, very clear in his message - that's what Labour hasn't got. They seem more like Tory-lite now.' Emma agreed: 'The Greens seem to be more for the people, family, wages, the environment. Out of all of them, they give a little bit more hope. It seems like Labour has passed the baton on to the Greens now.' Yet she didn't rule out Reform: 'If it's change for the better, then I'm here for it. If they were to come through and deliver on everything, that would be amazing.'
The voters' desire for change - but confusion over who should deliver it - played out across Birmingham. The city's council is now split between Reform, Labour, Conservatives, Lib Dems, Greens and independents. Deals, compromises and a new way of doing politics in Birmingham will inevitably follow.