Tanzy Lee

Few more thoughts on the Makerfield by election... I was canvassing for 15 days straight, knocked thousands of doors and made a point of trying to talk to people even if they were staunch Labour or against Restore. Indeed I spoke to so many that I found half a dozen who knew Andy Burnham personally. But none who mentioned knowing Bob the bum sniffer or having plumbing work done by him. Which is odd. This should be the safest Labour seat in the country, frankly. Only 5 constituencies were won by Labour before Ince in 1906. It has been Labour for 120 years. To put that into context Labour were only founded in 1900 and have just 17 constituencies that they've held for 100+ years. Yet their hotspots of support, in my experience, came from new build detached houses, whose owners rarely had Wigan accents and often still sporting their rainbow lanyards from work. Hardly working class. Managerial or patronage class who've moved into the area. And neither is Wigan. It still has the attitude of being so, but Southerners expecting cap doffing miners with a ferret down their pants were clearly confused. As we canvassed Winstanley a couple of them asked if we were in the right constituency whilst we walked past an Aston Martin. The actual working class areas were the most disengaged. Majority said they didn't vote, didn't trust politicians or hated Andy Burnham. One chap gave me a 7 minute long rant about him without even knowing which party I was from. He had dates, scandals, dodgy deals and complaints memorised, yet initially said he wasn't going to vote. Immensely politically knowledgable, yet politically disengaged. "All the money goes to prettifying Manchester. Burnham claims to be from around here but he's never done anything for Wigan as Mayor. Just gave us a couple of bus routes so we could see where our money was spent." The 1950s houses are now majority retired, and many appeared surprised and even shocked to have their door knocked. "Nobody has asked us for 40 years" or "They just take our vote for granted" were common complaints. Even more prevalent was "This country is circling the plughole". Many mentioned Keir Starmer with barely suppressed fury. Still majority Labour areas, even though they felt bitterly betrayed. The youngish professionals, often with Teslas on their drive, didn't need much persuading. Vast majority knew Rupert through social media, though some didn't realise he'd started a party. His name recognition and reputation for integrity were enough. In the 30s Eric Blair, pen name George Orwell, travelled around Wigan trying to figure out why they didn't revolt given their appalling living conditions. He studied them like ants trying to pinpoint where Marxist theory had gone wrong. Rather bizarrely concluding that white bread, sugar and the cinema were to blame for the proletariat's stubborn refusal to stage a violent revolution. He never mentioned that their hopes of escaping the material neglect of the 1930s were pinned on winning politically. Their hopes were pinned on Labour. Who delivered in 1945. The postwar Atlee and Bevan government built the homes that the young still owe their existence to and formed the NHS, which almost eradicated infant mortality. They were not politically neglected. They were merely patient. They fuelled the economy through coal which would eventually create the wealth to tap. But none of the young lads we talked to thought they'd be receiving a pension far off in the future. None of the young lasses thought it would still be safe to go out around Wigan of a weekend in five years time. "We don't want Wigan to become like Bolton". "It's getting worse". Few thought they'd be able to buy their own home. Terrifyingly few of the young lads thought they'd be raising a family any time soon. But Nye Bevan and Atlee were nothing like Keir Starmer. In fact they'd probably have had him shot. The brand loyalty is still there, but the product is long gone. And if Labour lose one of their safest seats they only have their own neglect to blame. So #bbcqt can pretend that we don't exist, but Wigan know that we do, as if we haven't talked them directly one of their friends or family has. If George Orwell travelled around Wigan today he'd be very confused. How do I know? Simply because a political party founded a couple of months ago turned out en masse, in their hundreds, to ask them. Politically neglected, ignored and abjectly betrayed by the same Labour party they put all their faith in so long ago, a very healthy percentage, more than 1 in 4, said they'd back us. He thought, and was taught, that material neglect lead to revolution. But Wiganners merely built their way out of it. Patience is a virtue. Unless you're on a collision course. Wiganners believe passionately in their Town and their country, but what can you build if you don't believe in the future?