General Election: Birmingham Northfield constituency report
It's been fascinating for me to spend some time back in the Northfield constituency to profile the area on special assignment for ITV News Central.
I lived in both Kings Norton and Northfield itself between 1982 and 1984 back in my days as a student of English at Birmingham University.
The area's days as a powerhouse of traditional Midlands manufacturing were drawing to a close.
Mrs. Thatcher was in power at Number 10 Downing Street and the seat was held by a Conservative MP, Roger King.
It's been Labour since 1992. Parts of the area are still recognisable to me, but so much has evolved.
My old student flat at Griffin Close on the Bristol Road is gone, replaced by new apartments. Even more dramatic is how the landscape has changed on the vast site that was once home the the British Motor Corporation and associated companies at Longbridge.
The industry survives in slimmed-down form. The acres and acres occupied by the old workshops from Austin days are now replaced by a big shopping centre, the new and thriving Bournville College with its dramatic, sloping architecture and Longbridge Village.
I definitely felt a sense the area had turned a corner. Optimism for the most part from the motor industry students I met at the college and contentment from the older people in the village, now living on the site where they once worked.
One message was clear from all; they want politicians to be less confrontational and to work together without the barbed comments and negativity seen in recent months.
I met the six candidates standing, all passionate in the belief they can make Birmingham Northfield a better place.
Here's the full list of candidates standing for the Birmingham Northfield constituency in the General Election 2019:
Richard Burden - Labour Party
Kenneth Lowry - UK Independence Party
Eleanor Masters - Green Party
Keith Rowe - Brexit Party
Gary Sambrook - Conservative Party
Jamie Scott - Liberal Democrats