Leigh in Greater Manchester was once a Labour stronghold – a former mining and manufacturing town, and once Andy Burnham’s constituency – but in 2019 the town voted for Boris Johnson and the constituency disappeared.
Helen Pidd As the Guardian’s northern editor at the time, she was a frequent visitor to the town, and in 2020 locals told her why Labour had lost its appeal to them. Four years on, cautiously hoping that Labour can win the town back, she returned to find out what had changed.
Helen found a town where the high cost of living and a sense of being left behind had dampened ambition. She reunited with Jamie Lee, who was 16 and about to start her first part-time job. At the time, she cited not having to worry about money as a future ambition. Now a 20-year-old university student, Jamie Lee told Helen she was working three jobs and thinking about leaving the country. Had Labour done enough to give voters like Jamie Lee hope for the future and to help bring towns like Lee back into Labour’s fold?
Photo: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
