In 1975, five per cent of the United Kingdom's workforce was in the North East, and five per cent of the United Kingdom's top earners were in the North East.
Today, five per cent of the United Kingdom's workforce is in the North East, and two per cent of the United Kingdom's top earners are in the North East.
Warm, warm thanks, of course, to Margaret Thatcher.
But scarcely less warm thanks, and no warmer at all from 1997 onwards, to the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007.
And to those with whom he, Tony Blair, surrounded himself during the last 10 of his 24 years in Parliament, the 10 when he was Prime Minister.
Alan Milburn (Darlington), Stephen Byers (North Tyneside), David Miliband (South Shields), Hilary Armstrong (North West Durham), and all the rest of them.
We are told that New Labour was based in the North East. Well, a fat lot of good that did us.
The consolations are the election of mainstream left-wingers such as Grahame Morris (Easington), Ian Mearns (Gateshead), Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) and Pat Glass (North West Durham, sweetest of all sweet ironies) in 2010.
The consolations are the election of mainstream left-wingers such as Grahame Morris (Easington), Ian Mearns (Gateshead), Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) and Pat Glass (North West Durham, sweetest of all sweet ironies) in 2010.
Followed, with any luck, by that of Liam Carr at Hexham in 2015.
Did you get the figures right?
ReplyDeleteYou said five per cent of the workforce was in the Northeast in 1975, and now.
Yes, that's right. But five per cent of top earners were here in 1975. It is only two per cent now.
ReplyDeleteSorry to burst your bubble on the last comment but Hexham is a safe, 1997-2001 Tory seat. Assuming a fairly even swing nationally, Labour would have to win 47% of the popular vote, and the Tories less than 30%, to take the seat. No current Indication any Labour win would be anywhere near that large, more in the 39-34 range.
ReplyDeleteThe Conservatives themselves are going around saying that they expect to lose it. They have no safe seats in the North now, by definition. That is their own view.
ReplyDeleteSo where is this extra 4% of the Tory vote over their 2001 performance if not in seats like Hexham
ReplyDeleteThey have privately written off Hexham, and they are even suspecting that Labour, and not they, will take Berwick now that Sir Alan Beith is retiring.
ReplyDeleteI think that they are being unduly defeatist, but long may they remain so.
Given the practically certain Labour gains at Stockton South and at Redcar, that would mean a clean sweep in the North East.
They think Labour can win a seat in which they last won 13% of the vote, with a vote share less than 12% above what they won last time? Crazy. They could come second, I grant you, but the Tory vote share there is certain to be above 33% (even with UKIP) and they will gain it by default
ReplyDeleteI'd be inclined to agree with you. Except that they no longer are. As far as they are concerened, it is in the North, and perhaps especially in the North East, so from 2015 onwards it will elect a Labour MP forever. They might be wrong. But it says it all that they think this.
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