In 2019 Boris Johnson demolished the so-called “red wall” of northern England as scores of Midlands and northern towns voted Conservative for the first time in decades. Bolsover was a key brick in that red wall with the ex-miner and longest-serving Labour MP Dennis Skinner losing his seat after 49 years.
Bolsover is typical of a post-industrial northern town (we can debate whether a north Derbyshire town is “actually” the north) and ranks among the most deprived areas in the UK for education, skills, training, employment and income. It’s not alone. Among the UK’s 20 most vulnerable local authorities, 16 are in the Midlands and north-west. In the midst of a pandemic, a cost of living crisis and a deepening productivity crisis, the government’s levelling up agenda seems vital.
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