A Blue Tide Sweeps the Region to Leave Labour Red-Faced

THE JOURNAL SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2019 43 A blue tide sweeps The voters had a choice and they the region to leave went for ruins Paul Labour red-faced Benneworth HE electoral map of the North ’VE been working in Spain see this world-famous site for East has been totally re-drawn this week, so I voted by post themselves. Tafter a series of devastating re- Mike Iand followed the election re- That took me to Segedunum sults for the Labour party in the 2019 sults by Twitter. I’ve been in Cor- recently for the first time in a general election. doba, an architectural jewel suc- decade, and I was surprised Bishop Auckland, held by Labour Kelly cessively settled and rebuilt by about how little space the whole since 1935; gone. Romans, Visigoths, the Arab Ca- fort took up. Given the number Blyth Valley, also held by Labour liphate and finally the Spanish of legionaries and horses sta- since 1935; gone. From the start the Conservatives Labour heartlands were threatened empire. tioned there, the site covers little Tony Blair’s former constituency ruthlessly set out their stall for the by a blue tide, the political version of The real centrepiece for me more than a local football ground in Sedgefield and until this election election with the memorable motto climate change. has been the Roman bridge dat- might. held by Phil Wilson; gone. ‘Get Brexit Done’. While Johnson and his party con- ing back over 2000 years. My one disappointment was North West Durham held by Jere- While Labour countered with its template their extraordinary majori- Like many Roman bridges, it is that a restored building had been my Corbyn loyalist and much-touted ‘Not For Sale’ mantra in an attempt ty – its biggest win in terms of seats held up on mini-arches resting closed to the public since 2007. future Labour leader, Laura Pidcock; to push the NHS to the forefront, it since 1987 – the Labour party is on distinctive lozenge shaped The bath houses had offered gone. did not have the same impact. about to become consumed by a mini-islands. Running across it an realistic view of Roman bath- All of the region’s other seats It’s Brexit policy – go to Europe to painful, possibly self-destructive this morning let the dawn light house culture, but a leaky roof which did not go Tory saw a huge renegotiate a better deal than John- inquest. showed off the bridge at its had made them unsafe for visi- swing to Boris Johnson’s party. son’s and then put it to the people There is a huge disconnect atmospheric best, a sandstone tors. The Tory leader himself joked after with another referendum in which between its near 500,000 members arch whose sheer majesty I naively asked why they hadn’t capturing Redcar in Cleveland that it Corbyn said he would stay neutral – who mostly saw Corbyn as their impells you to cross. repaired them, and the volunteer was now ‘Bluecar’. proved too complex. political soul mate and its now 203 But what made the bridge so raised their eyebrows at me quiz- The list of losses and near-misses The simple – critics would say too MPs – the majority of whom have beautiful was its meticulous zically. He reminded me the for Labour is as damning as it is simple – Tory message to ‘Get Brexit long said Corbyn was a political lia- preservation and landscaping council spent all its money on shocking for its leader Jeremy Cor- Done’ resonated more and saw trib- bility. with floodlights to portray this regenerating the Spanish City, byn’s party. Labour can never take al loyalties dating back decades in He has already said he will not magnificent structure in its best and that we just couldn’t afford the North East for granted again. the North East forgotten. lead the party into the next election light. It reminded me of draw- to repair this visitor attraction. So what exactly happened? While Former mining communities and a new leader must be found. ings of our old Roman bridge at I’ve been away for so long that Corbyn’s leadership has proved con- where memories of the bitter miners Who it is has an enormous task Pons Aelius. this line always surprises me. troversial – he described himself as strike of 1984/85, and the years of ahead of them – not just to bridge But its living modern beauty It amazes me a provincial being political marmite – the over- struggle after Margaret Thatcher, the gap between members and MPs, was in rather stark contrast to the Spanish town can afford to main- arching reason can be captured in almost turned Tory. but between the party and the coun- Roman remains I am familiar tain an undistinguished Roman one word: Brexit. Wansbeck in Northumberland, a try too. with. Hadrian’s Wall is rightly a bridge, but a large British city The North East voted overwhelm- Labour seat since 1945 with former The Conservatives have cast them- world heritage site, but it’s an act can’t afford to restore a world- ingly to leave the EU at the 2016 ref- NUM president Ian Lavery occupy- selves as the party of Brexit. of imagination to bring the famous tourist attraction. erendum and has become as frus- ing it since 2010, held by just 814 Much now depends on whether ruined stables, walls and forts to It’s a choice of course, a choice trated as the rest of the country at votes compared to a 10,435 majority Johnson can now deliver on his life. made by people we choose to the extraordinarily slow progress in 2017. promises. With the mandate he has The famous forts we all know take political decisions affecting towards achieving that goal. What were once seen as the been given by the people, there is no in Vindolanda, Chesters and us. From 2010, we’ve chosen one else to blame if he fails. Housesteads were abandoned national governments delighted Today, the Labour party has to following the Roman departure. to squeeze northern cities to forge a new identity to recapture the Scavanged for their precious fund cash handouts to their trust and support of the people of stone resources, they fell into friends in the prosperous south. the North East who helped form it disrepair until they were redis- On Thursday, we had another 119 years ago. covered by Victorian entrepre- chance to choose our leaders, neurs as a potential tourist and we made an objectively bad attraction for the booming rail- choice. We chose people on pub- way industry. lic record as saying they believe In the last thirty years, more in managing the North East of “ There is a huge efforts have been placed into a England’s rundown. serious reconstruction and resto- So we know when our social, disconnect between ration efforts of the Roman arti- health and education services Labour’s near 500,000 facts. Segedunum visitors centre collapse in the next five years, was opened at the end of the wall we’ll be told we can’t afford to members who mostly with a visitors’ tower allowing repair it. I hope those responsi- saw Corbyn as their views of the whole site. ble for this coming catastrophe My friends from Holland all won’t be allowed to hide again in political soul mate, and know Hadrian’s Wall, and a local a fridge when we have the chance museum in Twente even has a to kick them out. its now 203 MPs, the replica altar stone from a Mith- ■ Paul Benneworth is a Profes- majority of whom have ras temple apparently carved by sor of Innovation and Regional an ancient Dutchman. Development at HVL in Norway > A ‘painful, possibly self-destructive inquest’ long said Corbyn was a So whenever friends they with long-standing North East is now likely to engulf Labour after Jeremy visit, they clamour to roots. Corbyn led the party to a shattering defeat political liability.

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