Red Wall
Red Wall | |
---|---|
The Red Wall is a term used in British politics to describe a set of constituencies in England and Wales — mainly in the Midlands, Northern England and North East Wales — which historically tended to support the Labour Party. The term was coined in August 2019 by pollster James Kanagasooriam.[1]
When viewed on a map of previous results, the block of seats held by the party resembled the shape of a wall, coloured red, which has traditionally been used to represent Labour. This effect is exaggerated when results are projected into a map showing equal-size constituencies: in 2017, continuous blocks of red spanned the longitudinal distance across the North of England. In the UK/2019 General Election, many of these constituencies uncharacteristically supported the Conservative Party. Press coverage described the Red Wall as having "turned blue", "crumbled", "fallen", or having been "demolished".[2]
At the 2021 Hartlepool by-election, the Conservatives won for the first time in decades in another Red Wall seat.[3] The 2021 Batley and Spen by-election was also for a Red Wall seat, which Labour held albeit with a much-reduced majority.[4]
Related Document
Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Document:Message for the Red Wall | blog post | 12 April 2022 | Clifford Thurlow | "This is my message for the Red Wall. If you reach a crossroads and your destination is to the left and by mistake you turn right, the further you travel along the wrong road the further you will move away from your destination. It is not easy to turn back, to change your mind. Sometimes, you have to in order to survive." |
References
- ↑ "This is a huge 'Red Wall' stretching from N Wales into Merseyside, Warrington, Wigan, Manchester, Oldham, Barnsley, Nottingham and Doncaster"
- ↑ "General election 2019: How Labour's 'red wall' turned blue"
- ↑ "Tories take Hartlepool in historic Red Wall by-election victory"
- ↑ "Batley and Spen by-election results: Kim Leadbeater is the new MP for Batley and Spen as Labour clings on by 323 votes"
Wikipedia is not affiliated with Wikispooks. Original page source here