The Telegraph, June 15, Graham Stringer MP
The lasting memory of the 2019 election will be that it was the moment that the “Red Wall” was torn down by the Conservative Party. The Labour heartlands and 24 constituencies that had not voted Conservative for decades turned blue. The Conservatives had not won Burnley for more than a century.
Astonishingly, the majority in three of these constituencies (Dudley North, Bassetlaw and Great Grimsby) was greater than 20 per cent.
There is no hiding from the fact that last December’s election was disastrous for the Labour Party. There has been much debate over the reason why Labour collapsed. Some activists said that they were getting negative feedback on the doorstep about Jeremy Corbyn, others said voters felt disconnected from the Party.
These are valid reasons; however, it is clear to me that the Labour Party’s position on Brexit angered and alienated many traditional Labour voters across the Midlands and the North.
The Labour Party manifesto committed the Party to renegotiating a Brexit deal, striking an agreement on future relations with the EU within three months of taking power then staging a public vote by June 2020. If this were not confusing enough, the Party ruled out a no-deal Brexit – effectively binding the UK to whatever dreadful deal the EU might offer.
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