What Keir Starmer doesn’t understand about the Red Wall

The polls are tightening but Labour remains the odds-on favourite to triumph in the next general election. Keir Starmer’s party enjoys a 15-point lead in the polls over the Tories. But those who think the election is in the bag for Labour, should take a visit to the Red Wall. Voters here are disappointed by the failed promises of the Tories. But they are equally scornful of a Labour party they think has much in common with those in power.

The jaded feelings about the Conservatives are easy to understand: the Tories look tired and have run out of ideas after 13 years in power. But the lack of enthusiasm about Labour is more complicated and perhaps harder for Starmer’s party to shake off. Voters in the Red Wall – in particular in the part of Nottinghamshire that I call home – have not forgotten, nor forgiven, the way Labour has treated them.