| British political anoraks have just one more decent sleep before three nights of insomnia, as the local election results will dribble out over Thursday, Friday and Saturday. (My tip as a veteran of political all-nighters: get an early night with magnesium sleep spray tonight.) Fellow Readout writer Ailbhe Rea, together with Isabella Ward, has been out on the election trail in this great piece of shoe-leather journalism (though I hope they'll have been in trainers) to try to figure out what it all means. There are more than 2,500 council seats up for grabs, as well as two mayoral battles that will be totemic in different ways in the Tees Valley and the West Midlands. The incumbents, Ben Houchen and Andy Street respectively, are both big candidates. As the former CEO of John Lewis, Andy Street brought C-suite cred to running a region that includes the UK's second-biggest city; while Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen is a large laconic character.  Andy Street, mayor of the West Midlands Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg As Ailbhe and Isabella point out, the harvest of results is unlikely to be pretty for the Tories. But even though they are set to lose between 400 and 500 out of 900-odd council seats that the Tories are defending, analysts suggest Rishi Sunak's fate hangs on these two mayoral fights. Here's the piece: "It's a mark of the personal standing of the two men — both in office since 2017 — that they're in with a shout. The Tories trail Labour in some national polls by over 20 points, and neither candidate serves an area that could be described as a Conservative heartland." Houchen's fiefdom is traditionally Labour, while Street straddles a broadly equal number of Tory and Labour parliamentary constituencies.  Rishi Sunak speaks to Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen in 2022. Photographer: Owen Humphreys/PA Images/Getty Images Houchen, in particular, is a test of the cement gluing together the Red Wall. The "levelling up" agenda lost its way almost immediately after Boris Johnson achieved his historic realignment at the last general election, with the government unsure how to deliver for these voters within a single parliament. Should it be quick wins with new hospitals and schools in their area or a longer-term project to lift investment and living standard? The latter was probably the more sensible option, but tricky to pull off in one parliament, before the next appointment with voters. Amidst this indecision, Houchen just got on with it. He took Teesside airport into public ownership, attracted an outpost of the Treasury and a freeport to the area, and began regenerating the steelworks that used to lie like a slain dragon visible all around the area (although Labour has also alleged corruption here). He is also one of the most effective defenders of the green agenda, which makes sense given for his patch it means jobs and investment. To me, he's one of the more interesting politicians out there. Tomorrow night we see if these two big beasts can buck the polling trend. Just as striking will be what the turnout is. The "majority" of voters in those regions spoken to for the piece did not plan to vote at all. For them, these contests just don't matter enough. If only Sunak could say the same. Want this in your inbox each weekday? You can sign up here. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment