Boris shouldn’t take the red wall vote for granted

There are two popular reactions to the Hartlepool by-election, which one you favour depending largely on your political tribe. The first holds that the white working class has reacted against a woke, metropolitan Labour party and its knee-taking leader, Keir Starmer. The second holds that the town’s racist and xenophobic population are still fearful that their beloved Brexit might yet be undone, and were desperate to vote against a Labour candidate who had backed Remain.

Both of these narratives in fact boil down to pretty much the same thing: that the people of Hartlepool are a sad and angry bunch who tend to vote against things rather than vote for them. But could it be that this is wrong, and that Hartlepool did, in fact, vote from something they saw as potentially turning the local economic tide and bringing wealth to their locality, namely a freeport?

First, let’s just look at the idea that Hartlepool reacted against a Labour party they perceive to be led by a liberal metropolitan elite.