The view inside the People’s Republic of Chipping Norton – The Guardian
The honey-stone centre of Chipping Norton and its affluent surrounding villages were once famed as the haunts of former PM David Cameron, along with his set of wealthy, powerful media and political allies. It is perhaps, then, the last place you would expect to witness the stirrings of anti-Tory southern rebellion. But this month it happened when the Cotswolds ward – along with nine others in Oxfordshire – rejected the Conservatives.
This week c…….
The honey-stone centre of Chipping Norton and its affluent surrounding villages were once famed as the haunts of former PM David Cameron, along with his set of wealthy, powerful media and political allies. It is perhaps, then, the last place you would expect to witness the stirrings of anti-Tory southern rebellion. But this month it happened when the Cotswolds ward – along with nine others in Oxfordshire – rejected the Conservatives.
This week could see a rainbow, progressive coalition – made up of Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Greens – put the Conservatives into opposition for the first time in the county’s history. This comes after an alliance of non-Tory councillors last week took power in Cambridgeshire after the Conservatives lost control of the county – as well as losing the mayoral contest to Labour. The blue citadel of Tunbridge Wells borough council was also breached as the Conservatives lost their overall majority for the first time in more than 20 years.
These shifts in voter behaviour have received less attention than Labour’s ongoing struggles in some former red wall seats in the Midlands and the north, but some pollsters believe the crumbling of southern Tory strongholds could pose the party serious electoral problems. Professor Rob Ford of Manchester University argues that relatively affluent, well-educated voters are turning against the Tories in parts of the south-east, reflecting the breakdown of traditional, class-based voting patterns since the EU referendum. “The Conservatives risk falling into the same trap that New Labour did when it won in the south,” he says. “You get so excited about your advance in terrain that’s unfamiliar that you lose touch with your traditional heartlands.
“If the loyalties of Tory voters are stretched to breaking point, then it could get quite dramatic.”
Chipping Norton’s victorious Labour county councillor, Geoff Saul, is still coming to terms with his narrow 60-vote win, which encompasses the town and rural villages. “It’s a bit of a shock,” he said, in the cramped back room of his solicitor’s firm in the town. “It’s been a safe Conservative seat for 15 years.”
The signs of change were there if you looked closely, however. Saul and his small band of party activists have been patiently making inroads for years. “When I first moved here [20 years ago], most other councillors were Conservative. We’ve now got three Labour district councillors and 11 out of the 16 town councillors are Labour. Market towns have not been fertile territory for Labour, but we’ve turned Chippy red.”
There is plenty of evidence of this localised red surge, with Labour placards still adorning Cotswold-stone cottages and blooming, pretty gardens throughout the town. …….
