Since Labour lost a swathe of seats to the Conservatives at the last general election, there has been a lot of discussion about the Red Wall. The Red Wall is those Labour heartland seats in the North of England, the Midlands and North Wales with higher than average levels of deprivation and which mostly voted for Brexit in the 2016 EU Referendum. Progressives of all political outlooks are scrambling to try and win back Red Wall voters lost to the Tories since 2019. Contrary to popular belief, Labour was still the most popular party in the Red Wall at the local elections and a handful of gains were made by both the Lib Dems and the Greens in Red Wall areas.
So, these are 10 ways for progressives to win over Red Wall voters. These are developed from both my personal insights having lived in the Red Wall seat of Blackpool South for most of my life, as well as the insights of Deborah Mattinson as outlined in her 2020 book, Beyond the Red Wall (see especially pages 234-235).
1. Take Pride in Local Identities
People in the Red Wall are proud of where they come from. They take great pride in their local communities and in their local identities. Pride of place is paramount for people within Red Wall communities. Progressives need to recognise this and embrace local identities. Also, they should not be afraid of progressive patriotism. Who cares if an odd house wants to fly an England Flag or a Union Flag? Most people in the Red Wall, do not want national flags to be shoved down their throats, but equally they are proud of their communities and their country. Progressives should avoid being dragged into the so-called "flag wars" between the hard left and the Conservatives. Equally, they should avoid the dichotomy of the citizens of nowhere versus citizens of somewhere discourse. Progressives in the Red Wall need to be citizens of everywhere, but proudly rooted in somewhere.
2. Don't be Afraid to Use the C-Word - Class
Progressives today seem too often to be afraid of their own shadows. Nowhere is this more clear than discussions around class. Communities in the Red Wall, like communities in parts of London, face structural class inequalities. Progressives need to proudly champion working class people and lower middle class people in the Red Wall. They should seek to address the inequalities of wealth and status which fuel class inequalities and be prepared to take on the vested class interests of the wealthiest in society. Class matters and structural classism has no place in a progressive society. Embrace class identities and give a voice to injustice.
3. Denounce the Injustices of Contemporary Capitalism
That brings me to the third point, that being to denounce the injustices of contemporary capitalism. Call it neoliberalism or Thatcherism, but contemporary capitalism is at the root of the injustices which Red Wall communities face. From insecure employment, to welfare cuts, to rent seeking destroying high streets, to the loss of public services, to food poverty and low wages; these injustices continue to blight Red Wall areas. They have only been amplified in recent years by austerity and the pandemic. Progressives need to call out these injustices and develop the radical policies necessary to remedy them. Progressives need to end social injustices, but first they must never tire of denouncing them as fundamentally immoral at every opportunity.
4. Address Regional Inequalities
There are structural regional inequalities of wealth and power which pervade the United Kingdom. Nowhere is this more true than in the Red Wall. Regional inequalities, like austerity, were a root cause of many people in the Red Wall voting for Brexit in 2016. Progressives need to support the radical redistribution of wealth and power to all regions of the UK. This means supporting either a regional Green New Deal or a Regional Investment Bank. The aim would be to funnel infrastructure spending to the most deprived parts of the country and with it create tens of thousands of well-paid jobs and much needed growth and development for left-behind communities. There also needs to be a structure of federalism and decentralisation to bring political power closer to the poorest communities and regions.
5. Give NHS Staff a 15% Pay Rise
While cynicism is rife in contemporary politics, there is one institution which the vast majority of the public still have faith in. That is the National Health Service. Especially following the pandemic, people recognise the great sacrifices which doctors, nurses and other NHS staff have had to make over the last 18 months. Solidarity and community are at the core of Red Wall ethics. Progressives must take this energy and champion a just pay rise for all NHS staff. This means promising to give all NHS staff a 15% pay rise. This is the debt of thanks which we owe to all those NHS workers who have been making incredible sacrifices not only to fight the pandemic but to keep everyone else safe. We owe it to them and the vast majority of people in the Red Wall would support it and be proud of it.
6. Champion Racial Justice via the England Team
Many cultural conservatives argue that communities in the Red Wall do not care about racial injustice. Actually, they care a lot about injustice, but never underestimate the importance of building bridges. That is exactly what the England team did in the Euros last month when before every game they took a knee in solidarity with the victims of racism. They spoke volumes to people across the country and believe me when I say that most people in the Red Wall would have been appalled at the racism of a small minority of England fans. Players such as Marcus Rashford and their actions both on and off the pitch has shown the importance of racial justice to millions of people across the country. Build bridges and champion racial justice.
7. Don't be Afraid to be Green
Green issues are often branded as "woke" by the cultural right. However, polling and election data evidence has shown a different picture of the Red Wall entirely. The vast majority of Red Wall residents support action to address climate change and believe that climate change is man-made. There is a growing environmental consciousness in the Red Wall and it is vital therefore that progressives develop it and champion green causes. After all, it is working class communities, such as those in the Red Wall, which will be facing the brunt of man-made climate change. There can be no social justice for the poor or the working class without climate justice.
8. Be Anti-Establishment
Don't underestimate the dissatisfaction which exists across the Red Wall towards Westminster establishment politics. This anti-establishment zeal fuelled Brexit. But there is absolutely no reason why a party on the progressive left could not harness the same anti-establishment energy. One clear way to do this is by denouncing the corruption which is present in the current British political system. Nowhere is this more clear than with the House of Lords. An anti-establishment campaign to reform and democratise the House of Lords has the potential to get great traction in the Red Wall, if progressives have the courage to rediscover their anti-establishment convictions.
9. Be Honest
As Deborah Mattinson points out in Beyond the Red Wall, people in the Red Wall appreciate honesty from politicians. What they don't like is deflection and lies. If a party is proposing a big spending policy, it is not unreasonable to explain to people how that would be paid for. Also, people would respect a politician for being honest and truthful and for discussing difficult issues, even if they may not be particularly popular issues, rather than presenting a false image or trying to deflect and gaslight voters. Honesty, trust and political reputation matters to people in the Red Wall. Beyond everything else, honesty may be the best policy.
10. Don't Believe the Lazy Cultural Conservative Stereotypes
Finally, progressives should avoid the lazy cultural conservative stereotypes which right-wing populists like to advance about Red Wall areas. Yes, the majority of the Red Wall proudly voted for Brexit, but on a range of other cultural issues, the Red Wall are no more conservative than the national average. As YouGov reported in May, "the Red Wall is no more socially conservative than Britain as a whole, and characterisation of voters in these areas as predominantly "small c" conservatives concerned about social liberalisation or culture wars is not supported by polling evidence." All the cultural conservative stereotype does is to reinforce the Tory narrative, which is largely fictitious and which undermines progressive parties. There is a growing body of young Red Wall voters who are anything but conservative. Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens must not buy into the Tory Red Wall narrative and to do so would undermine the progressive cause. You cannot out-conservative the Conservatives and most of the Red Wall would not want progressives to try and do that either.
