A01=Deborah Mattinson
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Author_Deborah Mattinson
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Product details
- ISBN 9781785906046
- Publication Date: 15 Sep 2020
- Publisher: Biteback Publishing
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
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How do you start an electoral earthquake? Head to the Red Wall and you might just find out. Covering some sixty seats stretching from the Midlands up to the north of England and across to Wales, the wall is constructed of the old coal, steel and manufacturing constituencies that were the bedrock of Labour victories for years. Assumed to be a stuck-in-their-ways, loyal-to-a-fault foundation for Labour, the Red Wallers changed all that on 12 December 2019 when they elected Boris Johnson, turning their constituencies blue.
Here, renowned pollster and commentator Deborah Mattinson takes the issue by the horns, asking why these proudly working-class voters were tempted by the ‘posh party’ and questioning if they will ever again make their way back to the Labour fold.
With brand-new research, including expansive interviews with Red Wall constituents, Mattinson guides us through the lives of the left-behind, finally giving them the opportunity to speak for themselves. Written at one of the most turbulent periods in modern memory, this is a timely, far-reaching analysis of how we got to this point and where we can go next. One thing is certain: the Red Wallers have the power to change history.
The last general election saw the Conservatives win their highest vote share in forty years, while Labour slumped to their lowest seat total since 1935. At the heart of this electoral earthquake was the so-called 'Red Wall', some sixty seats stretching from the Midlands up to the north of England. Working-class voters in these old coal, steel and manufacturing constituencies had been the bedrock of past Labour victories, but all that changed on 12 December 2019 when Boris Johnson turned the Red Wall blue.
Who are the Red Wall voters and why did they forgo their long-standing party loyalties? Did they simply lend their votes to Johnson to get Brexit done - or will he be able to win them over more permanently? And as the Labour Party licks its wounds, how were those votes thrown away and what, if anything, can be done to win them back?
And how will the pandemic and the government's reaction to it change the voter's outlook on party politics in the future? Will everything be the same after it has passed?
This book sets out to answer those questions by putting them to the people who will decide the next election. Deborah Mattinson, pollster and strategist, veteran of nine elections, uses a programme of focus groups and in-home ethnographic interviews in seats such as Workington, Don Valley and Redcar to build a vivid portrait of Red Wall voters. She identifies their likes and dislikes, hopes and fears, values and attitudes, where politics fits into their lives and what kind of Britain they want for themselves and their families.
