Overview

The last UK general election saw the Conservatives win their highest vote share in forty years, while Labour slumped to their lowest seat total since 1935. At the heart of this electoral earthquake was the so-called 'Red Wall', some sixty seats stretching from the Midlands up to the north of England. Working-class voters in these old coal, steel and manufacturing constituencies had been the bedrock of past Labour victories, but all that changed on 12 December 2019 when Boris Johnson turned the Red Wall blue. Who are the Red Wall voters and why did they forgo their longstanding party loyalties? Did they simply lend their votes to Johnson to get Brexit done or will he be able to win them over more permanently? And as the Labour Party licks its wounds, how were those votes thrown away and what, if anything, can be done to win them back? And how will the pandemic and the government's reaction to it change the voter's outlook on party politics in the future? Will everything be the same after it has passed? This book sets out to answer those questions by putting them to the people who will decide the next election. Deborah Mattinson, pollster and strategist, veteran of nine elections, uses a programme of focus groups and in-home ethnographic interview in seats such as Workington, Don Valley and Redcar to build a vivid portrait of Red Wall voters. She identifies their likes and dislikes, hopes and fears, values and attitudes, where politics fits into their lives and what kind of Britain they want for themselves and their families. Praise for Talking to a Brick Wall: 'Compelling' - Daily Telegraph 'Fascinating' - New Statesman 'A must-read for anyone with an interest in how politics and popular opinion interact' - Evening Standard

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9781785906046

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Reviews

In this devastating new assessment of the fall of Labour's Red Wall, Deborah Mattinson unpicks our most recent history with deftness, clarity and piercing awareness. Matching engaging description with immense research and, above all, convincing argument, she finally gives voice to the 'long forgotten', definitively reporting how the Red Wall turned blue. - Ayesha Hazarika Deborah Mattinson has long been a shrewd and sympathetic analyst of voters and their motivations. Rich with real voices, Beyond the Red Wall is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand what drove so many in Labour's heartlands to desert the party in 2019 - and what it might take to win them back. - Heather Stewart While others theorise about why lifelong Labour voters in the Red Wall seats switched to the Tories in such vast numbers, Deborah Mattinson takes the radical approach of going to ask them. What they said is frank, forthright and fascinating. This calm, compelling account by someone who has seen Labour at its best and worst reveals the real people behind the polls. It will make for difficult reading for both parties, but after years of neglect they expect to be heard - and no party can expect to win without listening. - Matt Chorley

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The last general election saw the Conservatives win their highest vote share in forty years, while Labour slumped to their lowest seat total since 1935. At the heart of this electoral earthquake was the so-called 'Red Wall', some sixty seats stretching from the Midlands up to the north of England. Working-class voters in these old coal, steel and manufacturing constituencies had been the bedrock of past Labour victories, but all that changed on 12 December 2019 when Boris Johnson turned the Red Wall blue. Who are the Red Wall voters and why did they forgo their long-standing party loyalties? Did they simply lend their votes to Johnson to get Brexit done - or will he be able to win them over more permanently? And as the Labour Party licks its wounds, how were those votes thrown away and what, if anything, can be done to win them back? And how will the pandemic and the government's reaction to it change the voter's outlook on party politics in the future? Will everything be the same after it has passed? This book sets out to answer those questions by putting them to the people who will decide the next election. Deborah Mattinson, pollster and strategist, veteran of nine elections, uses a programme of focus groups and in-home ethnographic interviews in seats such as Workington, Don Valley and Redcar to build a vivid portrait of Red Wall voters. She identifies their likes and dislikes, hopes and fears, values and attitudes, where politics fits into their lives and what kind of Britain they want for themselves and their families.

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