The constituency of Bolton North East had been held by Labour for more than 20 years. But the power of the Boris Johnson electoral machine made it one of the many red wall seats to turn blue in 2019 - with promises of 'getting Brexit done' and 'Levelling Up'.
This has all come crashing down in recent months as controversy after controversy followed by apologies has signalled the demise of Boris Johnson's premiership. Just after 12.30pm today (Thursday), he announced he was stepping down as leader of the Conservative party.
The spiralling cost of living crisis and what is perceived as consistent lying from the PM has angered people who backed him and the Conservatives, many for the first time, in 2019. People on the streets of Heywood, which voted Tory for the first time ever, were calling for him to resign yesterday, while people on the streets of Breightmet, which elected a Tory for the first time since 1992, were glad to see him gone today.
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Lying over the partygate scandal damaged people's trust as the PM was fined by police for breaking lockdown rules while many made great sacrifices and couldn't see dying loved ones during lockdown. Constant internal government crises seemed to bring governing to a standstill, while ordinary people struggled to feed their families or fill up their car with prices skyrocketing.
This comes as more than a third of UK adults ‘say they are struggling financially’ according to research from LV=. Inflation has already reached a 40-year high of 9.1 per and is set to rise past 11 per cent in the autumn, average fuel prices have risen by around 27p per litre for petrol and 21p per litre for diesel, and research published earlier in June signalled that the number of people in the UK using a food bank has jumped from one in 10 to nearly one in six since last year.
This deepening crises, with basics such as butter now costing as much as £9, has continued to heap pressure on the government, and came to a head on Tuesday when Chancellor Rishi Sunak, and Health Secretary Sajid Javid, resigned and sent scathing letters to the PM in doing so. This was followed by 50 plus resignations from senior ministers and beyond who felt the PM's position had become 'untenable', forcing him to announce his forthcoming resignation.
'This won't change anything... no one really cares'
The cost-of-living crisis has been deepening throughout the political chaos of recent months, with whoever the new PM and Chancellor are sure to have a job on their hands to alleviate the burden placed on many. Eight millions households are set to see 'cost-of-living' payments hit their bank accounts on July 14.
From that date, a first instalment of £326 will start to be paid out to low-income households on benefits, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) previously announced. The second portion of the one-off £650 payment will follow this autumn. From October, households will have £400 taken off energy bills.
However, with the cost of food and other essentials still rising, these payments are only likely to make a small dent in people's pockets. Another affect of the cost of living crisis has been political apathy. "I don't even care any more," and "I'm not bothered," were common phrases uttered by people the Manchester Evening News spoke to at Harpurhey Shopping Centre.
"It's not going to change much is it [Johnson's resignation]," Ella said with her two kids while waiting for her partner. "He shouldn't have lied so much, but everyone's just bored of it all now.
"We're all struggling, we're skint basically, but what can you do? It's not going to change any time soon. We just do what we can."
Ste was on his way home from work and expressed much the same sentiment: "No ones bothered about us anymore. I don't really care he's gone, none of them have to worry about money. Most people are struggling round here, but everyone finds a way to get by."
'My grandad would have rolled in his grave if he knew I voted Tory in 2019'
The town of Breightmet in Bolton, part of the Bolton North East constituency, elected a Conservative MP for the first time since 1992 in the 2019 General Election. Mark Logan won this seat by just 378 votes over Labour.
Mr Logan has been a strong supporter of Mr Johnson throughout his time as an MP, but changed course yesterday (July 6) afternoon when he tended his resignation as a Parliamentary Private Secretary saying: "They (constituents) deserve more from leadership." He bluntly furthered his calls for the PM to resign this morning, Tweeting: "You’re taking the piss now. #go."
One lifelong Breightmet resident who backed Mr Logan and Mr Johnson was Tony England. He voted Labour all of his life, but believed Johnson and the Conservatives could bring about real change. The management of the cost of living crisis and controversy surrounding lies he has been found to have told have drastically altered his stance.
"Boris Johnson seemed like a good guy that could bring about real change, getting Brexit done and Levelling Up, but he's just told so many lies now," he said. "It's not just what's happened over the last few days it's been over his whole premiership really.
"We didn't go out for two years [during Covid]. We had our family in our bubble who would do our shopping, drop it in our garage, and I'd pick it up with gloves after sanitising everything, but they were just doing what they wanted. It is hard to criticise their efforts during Covid itself, with the vaccine rollout and everything, but since then it's been pitiful.
"At least he's doing the right thing now by stepping down but there's no government left is there? It's a mess that needs sorting out now, the pension increase we were offered was pathetic, so many people are struggling. I'm very lucky I've got a private pension to help but seeing the price of things in the shop now is scary. I really don't know how some people are coping.
"I still don't like Labour at the moment though. I was brought up by a trade union grandad who would have rolled in his grave if he knew I voted Conservative (in 2019). But they (Tory's) have really reverted to their true colours again now after everything that was said back then to convince people.
"They never really were for the rank and file public were they? But they convinced people they were then. I think if you called an election now they'd lose here and in a lot of similar places. I'm very glad he's gone."
Gwendoline Hewart, with dachshunds Disney and Twinkle, said they were all very happy Mr Johnson had resigned. "It had to happen didn't it? It was all getting a bit out of control.
"They made that big announcement about making fuel cheaper but it's only got more expensive since. The pension increase was nowhere near enough too.
"Nothing was going to be fixed while he was still there and everyone was against him. He should just go straight away now."
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