Triumph to Disaster

In 2019, it looked like the electoral map of Britain had been changed forever, with once solidly Labour constituencies voting Conservative for the first time. An epochal realignment seemed to be in train that saw the Conservative electoral coalition become much more Northern and working class and Labour depending more on middle class voters in the South. Only a few years later, the realignment lies in ruins. The Red Wall has returned to Labour, and it’s clear 2019 was a blip. Tories are now jostling amongst themselves to be seen as the heirs to Thatcher. It’s almost like the promise of change and levelling up was a fever dream as political parties and voters revert to type. What happened? And what can be done? The Conservatives made a big promise to Red Wall voters in 2019, speaking openly about first-time Conservative voters ‘lending’ their support and promising. In reality, that was quickly forgotten and the realignment was put in the ‘too difficult’ box, in preference of Thatcherite cosplaying that appealed to a tiny core of Tory members but didn’t address the real problems that the country faced. But the politics behind it cannot be ignored. This book will address what went wrong with the so-called realignment and what needs to be done to revive it. ‘David Skelton is a brave and original thinker who gets it.’ – Tim Shipman, The Sunday Times