Labour’s breach of the ‘blue barricade’ in North Yorkshire is seismic - Yorkshire Post Letters

We’ve all heard of the ‘Red Wall’ in the North of England and of the ‘Blue Wall’ in the South, but what has been to a great extent overlooked is that election day saw the breaching of the ‘Blue Barricade.’

If the West Midlands mayoral result was ‘phenomenal’ and the by-election in Blackpool South ‘seismic’, then nobody should doubt that the epicentre of the political earthquake which hit on May 2 was centred somewhere beneath Rishi Sunak’s own constituency of Richmond in North Yorkshire.

Let me explain. Following the 2019 election there was much talk of how the Tories had broken the ‘Red Wall’, a string of traditional Labour constituencies that stretched across the North of England.

And there’s been much talk since of how the Lib Dems intend to attack the ‘Blue Wall’ of Tory seats aligned East to West across the South.

But in truth there’s always been a Blue Barricade in the North of England of long-standing, true blue, Tory constituencies stretching from the Irish to the North Sea. These include not only Rishi Sunak’s seat but other big hitters including Kevin Hollinrake and Robert Goodwill. Indeed six out of the eight seats that make up the combined authority area of York and North Yorkshire have Tory MPs.

So, when it was announced that David Skaith, Labour’s candidate for the new mayoralty covering York and North Yorkshire had defeated the Tories, the cries of anguish emanating from Conservative Central Office could be heard in Scarborough.

And while the Yorkshire result may not have attracted as much national coverage as those from elsewhere, there is no doubt that its significance shouldn’t be underestimated. This was a result of truly epic proportions.

Let’s be honest. Labour was confident of a win in Blackpool and hopeful of a close result in the West Midlands but anyone placing a bet on Labour’s winning the mayoralty in York and North Yorkshire would have been met with incredulity, a sympathetic pat on the head and been advised to save their money and have a nice lie down in a dark corner.

But if the Blue Barricade suffered an earthquake, the rest of Yorkshire saw Labour’s Red wall being rebuilt, ready for the onslaught that will be the General Election. Because in truth, if Labour can win in North Yorkshire, even on a low turnout, no Tory seat in the North of England is safe.

And the other elections across Yorkshire reflected the reality that Labour is rebuilding the Red Wall. But mayoral elections are strange beasts. Most of the electorate are not fully engaged with these roles and turnout reflects general lack of interest in common with Police and Crime Commissioner elections. And there’s a lot of public confusion over these roles.

Mayoral powers vary depending upon the devolution deal with central government, covering a range of level one to level four. So, whilst the powerful West Midlands mayor has no authority over police and crime, the less powerful, and brand new Mayor of York and North Yorkshire does. Until May 2, South Yorkshire had a mayor as well as a Police and Crime Commissioner, however the post was absorbed on election day and the Mayor now has both jobs.

In other parts of the county, Labour Mayors were re-elected in West and South Yorkshire with increased majorities whilst Police and Crime Commissioners followed a similar pattern with the excellent Labour PCC candidate in Humberside enjoying a swing to Labour which wasn’t quite enough to unseat the sitting Tory.