Outside a giant B&Q warehouse in Worksop Frances O’Grady is braving the icy rain to talk chat to members of the Unite union fresh from an 11-week long dispute.
This is classic red wall territory. Worksop forms part of Bassetlaw, the Nottinghamshire constituency won by the Conservatives at the 2019 election by more than 14,000 votes. The distribution centre is on the site of what was once the Manton colliery and – in a move redolent with symbolism – a Unite picket line was set up where miners had gathered during the year-long pit strike of 1984-5.
