A giant inflatable Boris Johnson blimp, made in China and paid for by an anonymous local businessman, floated above the Marina in the Northeast England port town of Hartlepool during the afternoon of 7 May 2021. The Prime Minister, who likened his blimp to Superintendent Ted Hastings from Line of Duty, was there in person to celebrate the predicted Conservative Party victory in the previous day’s Parliamentary by-election for the constituency of Hartlepool, and to thank the townsfolk for their electoral support, which was to be expected given their earlier strong support for “getting Brexit done”. The by-election was triggered by the resignation on 16 March of sitting Labour MP Mike Hill, following claims of “sexual harassment and victimisation”. Mrs Jillian Wendy “Jill” Mortimer, a farmer, ex-trainee barrister, and Hambleton District councillor in neighbouring North Yorkshire, received 15, 529 votes, securing a 6, 940-vote majority over her nearest rival, Dr Paul Williams, a former GP, recent Labour MP for Stockton South (2017-19), and a “Remainer”- to his disadvantage. After 57 years of staunch allegiance to the Labour Party, ever since the constituency was formed in 1974, Hartlepool removed another brick from Labour’s “Red Wall” in the North of England, as part of a political inversion which has seen the North turn bluer just as the South begins to take on a reddish tinge.
Mr Johnson’s electoral success in the deindustrialised North of England can be likened to the political gains made by ex-President Trump in America’s own Rust Belt. The promise of new jobs, new investment and new opportunities in an economically and socially disadvantaged and frequently overlooked part of England is a well-proven vote-winning strategy. In front of an admiring audience, an ebullient and upbeat Prime Minister thus promised a well-received transition “from jabs, jabs, jabs to jobs, jobs, jobs”. While these are unfulfilled promises for the moment, there can be no doubting a new willingness to invest in England’s North East, in the latest reincarnation of the Northern Powerhouse. For example, recent commitments to expand the nearby Teesside International Airport and to create a freeport in Teesside may well attract new investment, trade, and even tourist traffic to a newly rejuvenated Hartlepool.
Hartlepool lies off the beaten track and does not automatically come to mind when you are looking for place to visit on a free weekend. It has indeed failed to attract the visitors from other parts of England which it so rightly deserves. The successive losses of once-thriving shipbuilding, coal mining, and steel production have led to high unemployment, poverty, urban decay, and casual crime, thereby creating a negative image for the town. But things may be about to change for the better. The local council’s Hartlepool Regeneration Masterplan dates back to 2015, and the town has already much to offer. An attractive Marina, the Maritime Experience, the Headland peninsula, and the golden sandy beaches, are all worth a detour to Hartlepool. The town can also capitalise on recent cultural renaissance, such as a new creative industries hub in the former General Post Office, and two campuses of the Northern School of Art.
Hartlepool’s naval connections are on display at Jackson Dock, where the Maritime Experience includes the former Royal Navy frigate HMS Trincomalee, the oldest warship still afloat in Europe, along with a number of other historic ships, period shops and houses, as well as the National Museum of the Royal Navy, whose giftshop houses a small Museum of Hartlepool. Then there are the usual interesting local anecdotes and associations. According to folklore, the townsfolk hanged a monkey, the sole survivor from a French shipwreck during the Napoleonic Wars, for allegedly being a French spy. The town is associated with the iconic, laid-back, working-class figure of Daily Mirror cartoon character Andy Capp, whose statue can be found outside the Harbour of Refuge pub.
For the moment, Hartlepool has turned blue and can be considered a staunchly Conservative town. But the Monkey Hangers, as the townsfolks are sometimes known, may not remain in thrall of the Tory leadership indefinitely. In return for their new loyalties, they will expect tangible results. The time to decide on whether they have made the right choice is someway off. Nothing can be guaranteed when it comes to the next General Election.
Ashis Banerjee