Leigh in Better Manchester was a Labour get together stronghold. A former mining and mill city, it was as soon as Andy Burnham’s constituency. However in 2019 that was swept away because the city voted for Boris Johnson.
Helen Pidd, then the Guardian’s northern editor, visited it usually – and in 2020 individuals there instructed her why Labour had misplaced its shine for them. 4 years later, with Labour cautiously hopeful it will possibly regain the city, she returned to search out out what has modified.
She discovered a city the place the price of dwelling disaster and a sense of being left behind has led to a narrowing of ambition. She met up as soon as extra with Jamie-Lea, then a 16-year-old, about to start out her first part-time job. Again then, she stated her hopes for the longer term included the want that she wouldn’t have to fret about cash. Now a 20-year-old college pupil, Jamie-Lea instructed Helen she has three jobs and is considering of leaving the nation. Has Labour carried out sufficient to supply voters like Jamie-Lea hope for the longer term and guarantee cities like Leigh return to the fold?
{Photograph}: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
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