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Returning to Leigh: can Labour rebuild the red wall? – podcast Returning to Leigh: can Labour rebuild the red wall? – podcast
(4 months later)
The Greater Manchester town was a Labour stronghold before 2019. Will it be once again? Helen Pidd reportsThe Greater Manchester town was a Labour stronghold before 2019. Will it be once again? Helen Pidd reports
Leigh in Greater Manchester used to be a Labour party stronghold. A former mining and mill town, it was once Andy Burnham’s constituency. But in 2019 that was swept away as the town voted for Boris Johnson.
Helen Pidd, then the Guardian’s northern editor, visited it often – and in 2020 people there told her why Labour had lost its shine for them. Four years later, with Labour cautiously hopeful it can regain the town, she returned to find out what has changed.
She found a town where the cost of living crisis and a feeling of being left behind has led to a narrowing of ambition. She met up once more with Jamie-Lea, then a 16-year-old, about to start her first part-time job. Back then, she said her hopes for the future included the wish that she wouldn’t have to worry about money. Now a 20-year-old university student, Jamie-Lea told Helen she has three jobs and is thinking of leaving the country. Has Labour done enough to offer voters like Jamie-Lea hope for the future and ensure towns like Leigh return to the fold?