Little hope ahead of the election In Great Britain, the signs are pointing to resignation

Hartlepool on the coast of northern England is a town with many problems, marked by industrial decline. People here have little hope of the general election - and are by no means alone in this.

DPA

03.07.2024, 22:37

04.07.2024, 08:32

dpa

Voters in Hartlepool have heard many politicians promise that something will change. For many years, Labor Party representatives promised that they would fight for working people, even as well-paid jobs in industry disappeared. Later, the Conservatives promised new money and new opportunities from Brexit. But when people in this windswept port city in the north-east of England cast their vote in the UK general election on Thursday, many will be full of doubt as to whether there really will be change this time.

For despite all the years of promises, virtually nothing has changed in Hartlepool's many problems. The city has higher unemployment, lower incomes, shorter life expectancy, more drug-related deaths and a higher crime rate than the country as a whole. Many do not dare to hope that the politicians are now serious.

Polls across the country suggest a Labour victory over the ruling Conservatives, but many voters were still undecided in the days leading up to the vote - and even more were emotionally exhausted. To return to the helm after 14 years in opposition, Labour must win back disillusioned voters in Hartlepool and other northern towns, where years of economic deterioration have exacerbated social problems. And also a sense of disillusionment.

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"Lying blue in the face"

Last time he voted Conservative, he believed the promises of Boris Johnson - who "lied through his teeth", says Stan Rennie, a fisherman who has been catching lobster off Hartlepool's coast for 50 years and now, he says, barely earns enough to live on. "I think because we are the North East, the government doesn't even know we exist. We are the forgotten land."

Hartlepool, a once proud town that juts out into the North Sea 400 kilometers north of London, is marked by industrial decline. The shipyards and steelworks that once employed thousands are long gone. The fishing fleet has been shrinking for years. In the 2016 referendum, Hartlepool clearly voted for Brexit. They believed the words of Johnson and other supporters that leaving the EU would give the British back control of their country and free up billions of pounds for the attached former industrial centers.

In the election three years later, many constituencies on the English "Red Wall" - traditionally Labour-loyal areas in the Midlands and the North - swung to Johnson's Conservatives. In Hartlepool, Labour managed to hold on until a by-election in 2021, when it was over here too.

In the last few years, the town has received government funding to spruce up its train station, restore old buildings and revitalize the seafront. But there is still a lack of well-paid jobs. In the town center, with its many empty store fronts, pensioner Sheila Wainwright has to think when asked what politicians have done for Hartlepool. "Improved the seafront?" she replies. But then all the stores were closed. "I don't think you can believe anyone. They all talk about these things. But nothing ever happens."

Fishermen feel cheated

Jonathan Brash, Labour candidate in the constituency, hears similar complaints when he knocks on doors in Hartlepool. He says he understands the mistrust. "Wherever people seem to look, they find a country that doesn't really work. Our public health service is in real trouble. Crime on our streets is increasing. There are not enough police officers. Our public sector has fallen into disrepair over the past 14 years."

Hartlepool's fishermen, whose trade has shaped the town's identity, feel particularly betrayed. Many of them voted for Brexit to free themselves from EU quotas and red tape, but little has changed, they say.

And at the end of 2021, another problem arose. Many dead and dying shellfish suddenly washed up on the north-east coast of England. Rennie and other fishermen suspect that toxins were released from the nearby River Tees during the development of an old industrial site. Two studies commissioned by the government have ruled this out, but no other cause has been identified. "Our life's work has been destroyed," Rennie laments beside his lobster fishing baskets, which often remain empty. He says his family has been fishing for 500 years, but "it will die with me".

Hope for the shipping industry

Some hope that another aspect of the town's maritime heritage - shipping - will give Hartlepool a boost. Its 81-acre commercial port employs far fewer people than it did when ships were built and coal was loaded here. But there is some activity, much related to the rapidly growing renewable energy sector. Companies in the port manufacture underwater coils for the world's largest offshore wind farm, Dogger Bank, which is being built about 130 kilometers off the coast.

The project has raised expectations among some that the port and Hartlepool as a whole will play a major role as a hub for renewable energy and other emerging technologies. "There are really, really big opportunities here. A lot more cargo, a lot more ships," says Jerry Hopkinson from the operating company PD Ports.

Labor candidate Brash is tooting the same horn, especially as his party has promised to make the UK a "superpower" in clean energy. According to polls, Brash can hope to win Hartlepool's parliamentary seat from Conservative Jill Mortimer, although many voters express little enthusiasm for either party - wind energy or no wind energy.