How the Tories Smashed Stoke Labour

JVL Introduction

Having published many analyses of the situation nationally, it is salutary to look at Labour’s long-term decline in a paticular locality – Stoke – as chronicled here.

It can be put down partly, as the Tory council leader put it, to “Labour being entitled and complacent”.

While structural issues and wider political issues of Brexit and Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership were background factors, here as elsewhere, there were no predetermined outcome.

“There is always agency and there were plenty of opportunities Labour could have taken in the Potteries to avoid outright disaster on 12th December.”

It didn’t have to allow its support to be hollowed out over time – just contrast this story with that of Preston…

This article was originally published by A Very Public Sociologist on Tue 14 Jan 2020. Read the original here.