Stoke-on-Trent, while many people would believe otherwise, has produced some great figures in world history. Slash from Guns 'N' Roses and Lemmy from Motorhead? Brought up in Stoke. Reginald Mitchell, inventor of the Spitfire which aided massively in defeating the German Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain? A fellow Stokie. Edward Smith, the captain of that internationally famous ship The Titanic - erm...Robbie Williams was raised here too (and we are so proud of this fact we have even named streets after his songs).
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| Because nothing says Robbie like housing estates in his honour |
My point here is we have a lot to offer. We aren't some social backwater, we have been a big name since the Industrial Revolution in ceramics (thus our other name the Potteries), and some areas even date back to the Doomsday Book. So why would such a place be vulnerable to the rise of UKIP? It has been said that our regional delicacy, the Staffordshire Oatcake, is so good it could even bring about world peace. Yet something is threatening that.
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| Next week's article : Could the oatcake reverse Trump's Muslim ban? |
First, let me tackle perceived notions of it being a backwater. I think this is highlighted best in, shockingly, a video by the Guardian here (kudos to a Facebook friend for bringing this to my attention). The video, while indeed showing actual deprived areas of Stoke, only focuses on that. It makes it seem like we live in ghettos, a place which time forgot. It shows the disused old shopping centre and bus station, neglecting to mention we now have a much more modern bus station and that the updated Potteries Shopping Centre, in operation now for nearly three decades, still sees a massive influx of business. Yes, there are a lot of uneducated voters and yes there is a lot of deprivation, but you'll find that in most cities. What this video attempts to do is to create the narrative (done especially well due to it's ever so slightly grey filter) that Stoke is poor and uneducated and so will either vote for UKIP to change their situation or not at all.
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| Something tells me this doesn't sit right with Robbie. |
To be fair, a ten minute video can only accomplish so much, and is no doubt a valuable insight for The Guardian's mainly middle class left-wing readership, revealing why some people vote for UKIP. Yet it masks the complexities of the situation. Stoke was the country's 'Brexit Capital', but why is this so if it wasn't a UKIP seat in the first place? If poverty and poor education were the only factors, a lot of deprived areas would have voted UKIP a while ago. Let's look at other reasons why Stoke is feeling disillusioned, like this guy.
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| Tristram Hunt, who shares a similar nickname to fellow politician Jeremy Hunt |
Tristram Hunt was elected Labour MP for Stoke Central in April 2010. Two years after the economic crash of 2008, Stoke was hit especially hard and was one of the country's most deprived areas at the time. So, to oversee the situation, they hired a local man of the people who could truly relate to his constituency's problems, right? Nah, they brought in a guy from Cambridge who was the son of a baron!
Don't you think this kind of strategy only reinforces the view that politicians are only in it for themselves and their rich mates? Hunt may have won 38.8% of the vote, but when only 53% of voters bother to turn up, that is no victory and suggests that people felt no real affiliation with him. Labour won not due to their charm or policies, but simply because they weren't Conservative. When those who represent you politically actually don't represent your needs whatsoever due to a vastly different lifestyle, you begin to become disillusioned with politics in general. You could actually argue the rise of UKIP is a good thing for the working class and its Labour voters, because it will keep Labour on its toes in an attempt to appeal to the people rather than finding comfort in their favourable position in the Midlands/North as non-Tories. They can no longer simply put whoever they want in a seat and expect them to win without difficulty.
Stoke isn't a third-world city as the Guardian video implies. But it is dissatisfied with the ruling elites, and any perceived deprivation is multiplied when they don't seem to do anything about it, especially when they are former businessmen or even minor royalty. So when UKIP blames immigrants or the EU, doesn't that at least seem like a solution they have identified and are working towards, rather than disinterested politicians uttering vague promises while they sit on their backsides and mainly chat with people far wealthier than most of the people they represent?
69.4% of voters in Stoke voted Leave in the referendum. That's an alarming percentage, especially to the metropolitan elite of London who shrieked how much damage Brexit would do to our economy with its lack of EU investment and trade. Yet areas like Stoke, while we managed well with what we had (under incompetent local leadership), didn't seem to receive the economic benefits and EU investment that places like London were afforded. That may well have been the UK Government's fault than the EU's. But when the elite give people a decision like the Referendum, where either we continue the status quo, or the people are finally given a sense of power to overturn it, guess what? Those who have who have felt unheard by their leaders will make their pain felt.
Don't you think this kind of strategy only reinforces the view that politicians are only in it for themselves and their rich mates? Hunt may have won 38.8% of the vote, but when only 53% of voters bother to turn up, that is no victory and suggests that people felt no real affiliation with him. Labour won not due to their charm or policies, but simply because they weren't Conservative. When those who represent you politically actually don't represent your needs whatsoever due to a vastly different lifestyle, you begin to become disillusioned with politics in general. You could actually argue the rise of UKIP is a good thing for the working class and its Labour voters, because it will keep Labour on its toes in an attempt to appeal to the people rather than finding comfort in their favourable position in the Midlands/North as non-Tories. They can no longer simply put whoever they want in a seat and expect them to win without difficulty.
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| Except this guy, he seems to have the right criteria for the job. |
Stoke isn't a third-world city as the Guardian video implies. But it is dissatisfied with the ruling elites, and any perceived deprivation is multiplied when they don't seem to do anything about it, especially when they are former businessmen or even minor royalty. So when UKIP blames immigrants or the EU, doesn't that at least seem like a solution they have identified and are working towards, rather than disinterested politicians uttering vague promises while they sit on their backsides and mainly chat with people far wealthier than most of the people they represent?
69.4% of voters in Stoke voted Leave in the referendum. That's an alarming percentage, especially to the metropolitan elite of London who shrieked how much damage Brexit would do to our economy with its lack of EU investment and trade. Yet areas like Stoke, while we managed well with what we had (under incompetent local leadership), didn't seem to receive the economic benefits and EU investment that places like London were afforded. That may well have been the UK Government's fault than the EU's. But when the elite give people a decision like the Referendum, where either we continue the status quo, or the people are finally given a sense of power to overturn it, guess what? Those who have who have felt unheard by their leaders will make their pain felt.
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| I'm loving Brexit instead. |
What Labour needs to do then is show it listens, it understands the problems of their voters, and it can highlight and reverse the economic and social issues we suffer. Ever since Tony Blair, Labour has been allowed to be filled with rich people who wanted an easy seat of power, a far cry from its original purpose as a party of -the- working class (hence its name Labour). In a bizarre turn of events the Tories are perhaps listening the best to 'the people's will' as they head towards a relentless 'hard Brexit'. Under the Tories, it will most likely only increase the inequality the country suffers more. But considering it was an ambiguous concept in the first place, what can you do? Politicians are now aware that the populace is not to be trifled with and will spite them to gladly watch them crawling in panic for a solution, as Theresa May's six month silence on Brexit and the ensuing chaos revealed. Thus, maybe it was a minor victory, and our well-being will be considered more in future. But if the people feel too much pain and alienation from the traditional parties, they are far more likely to vote for extremist parties like UKIP, and so Labour needs to realise it is the last stand against them in these areas and pull out all the stops to ensure they remain in power.
Maybe this is why Corbyn forced his MPs to vote for Article 50, despite him having lots of Remain support. But what is perhaps worrying is that the winning Labour Candidate, Gareth Snell, was an ardent Remain supporter, referring to Brexit as, no joke, a 'massive pile of shit'. It was an incredibly risky gamble. One that didn't pay off in the Copeland election where a traditional Labour constituency reliant on a local nuclear plant came across a leadership which opposed nuclear power.
And whether Corbyn's labour can be both an effective opposition and act in the people's best interest is an issue for another time. All that matters to me is this - my hometown was finally put on the map again as a battleground for political history, the outcome no doubt affecting the future of both contending parties. Viva la Oatcake.
And whether Corbyn's labour can be both an effective opposition and act in the people's best interest is an issue for another time. All that matters to me is this - my hometown was finally put on the map again as a battleground for political history, the outcome no doubt affecting the future of both contending parties. Viva la Oatcake.
