Sonia Kumar is the first woman and the first person of colour ever elected MP for Dudley. She describes herself as "the proud daughter of a greengrocer, an NHS physiotherapist and a true West Midlands woman", and she is Sikh. She attended Cadbury College and worked as a frontline physiotherapist at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Northfield and at the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, graduating from Aston University with an MSc in Business and Management on 19 July 2024, fifteen days after her election. "The Prime Minister gave me a day off to graduate," she said.

The constituency is newly created from Dudley North and part of Dudley South, so voters were choosing a representative for a new configuration, not returning an existing seat. The campaign turned communal. Marco Longhi, the former Dudley North MP, sent a letter addressed specifically to "voters of the British Pakistani/Kashmiri community in Dudley", with Kumar's name in bold, capitals and underlined, asking whether she would advocate for Kashmir, the implication being that her surname meant she would not support Muslim Kashmiri interests. Kumar is Sikh, not Hindu; Longhi had targeted her religious and ethnic identity to a specific community as a campaign tactic. She told the BBC she was "disappointed and shocked" and answered with a pledge of "unity not division".

She was elected on 4 July 2024 with 12,215 votes (34.1 percent) and a majority of 1,900 (5.3 percent), with the Conservatives on 28.8 percent and Reform UK on 26.4 percent, within 873 votes of second place, on a turnout of just 51 percent. She sits on the Business and Trade Committee.

Kumar's strengths include being the first woman and first person of colour MP for Dudley, a greengrocer's-daughter background, her Sikh identity in a diverse constituency, frontline NHS physiotherapy at two hospitals, an Aston MSc completed during the campaign, West Midlands roots, the Business and Trade Committee seat, and the "unity not division" response to communal campaigning. Her weaknesses include a 1,900 majority (5.3 percent), a 34.1 percent vote share with Reform at 26.4 percent nearly overtaking the Conservatives, 51 percent turnout leaving half the electorate unrepresented, no ministerial office, no legislative achievement, and the structural vulnerability of a new constituency with no Labour history. With the NHS career, the two historic firsts and the Aston MSc, she has a distinctive personal profile. Whether Dudley voters see improved physiotherapy access, NHS waiting times and town centre revival will determine whether the historic firsts become a lasting Labour presence.