Simon Johnson is Labour’s Candidate for Knowle.

Full statement

It will be 40 years this year, that Simon first stood in Knowle at the age of 21. An enduring testament to his commitment to both the residents of the Knowle Ward and the local Labour Party.

Simon was born at Solihull Hospital. Educated at Knowle and Arden schools, after graduating from Birmingham College of Food, worked as a chef in a number of local hotels and restaurants. Following the death of his father, Simon became sole carer for his disabled mother. To provide the flexibility of hours he needed, he established an outside catering business. Later, he started a food wholesale company.

Simon took early retirement back in 2010, before undergoing open – heart surgery at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge the following year. Simon was extremely lucky, being only one of less than 400 patients worldwide to receive this particular ground breaking operation in 2011, described on the BBC’s One Show a year later, as “science fiction medicine”! This was of course down to our NHS, the same NHS which needs defending from fragmentation and privatisation by the Tories.

Simon’s experience as a local resident, businessman and carer give him a unique insight into the issues and challenges that face the residents of Knowle and Chadwick End.

As in 1982 and now in 2022, Simon is calling for the establishment of a Parish/Town Council in Knowle. Over the last 40 years Knowle as changed dramatically from a village into a town, with all the pressures that it brings.