Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves says it is “awful” to see former ‘Red Wall’ seats in the North now being held by the Conservatives.
Ms Reeves was speaking on a visit to Northumberland, meeting reporters in the Blyth Valley constituency won by Ian Levy in the 2019 General Election. The seat had been a Labour stronghold for decades, but its switch to the Conservatives was one of the standout results of a night that saw dozens of formerly safe Labour seats turn blue.
Labour has won back a few of those seats at by-elections since the 2019 election and opinion polls have them on target to return to its power base in the North. Upcoming local elections in May will offer a yardstick on the party’s progress in the region.
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Asked about Blyth Valley being a Conservative seat, she said: “It’s awful, not just Blyth Valley but Bishop Auckland and Darlington, and areas near my constituency, places like Keighley and Wakefield, which we lost but won back last year.
“The Labour Party was formed as the party of working people, of the industrial towns and cities, including in the north of England. We know that we lost the trust and support of people.
“Under Keir Starmer the party is under new leadership, we’re looking outwards to the country again and we’re determined to win back the support from people who turned away from us. That is starting to happen - you saw that in the Wakefield by-election last year and we’ve got an important set of council elections this year.”
Ms Reeves visited a factory in Seaton Delaval, Northumberland, run by the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust which makes its own PPE and used the trip to highlight Government waste in that area.
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