There is no such thing as a safe seat any more

A couple of weeks ago saw the UK elect for the first time a UKIP MP – Douglas Carswell, with a huge majority of 12,000 votes. UKIP made enormous strides in the safe Labour seat of Heywood & Middleton as well, reducing the Labour majority from 5,971 to 617. This rise in the ‘acceptable’ far right should be a cause of concern not just to the Tories but also to us. It is clear from these results there is no such thing as a safe seat any more.

The outcome of the Heywood and Middleton by-election could have been very different were it not for the efforts of North West Labour. This former Labour safe seat is now marginal. So why has this happened?

Knocking on doors the apathy was clear. Over the past few years working and middle class families have been finding life harder. People who have dutifully engaged in society now feel abandoned and ignored by Westminster; the next generation is now loaded with debt, living at home, unemployed or drastically under employed; people are struggling to keep up with the cost of living. Colleagues and neighbours are being replaced by new younger immigrants from Eastern Europe (understandably willing to take less money for many social and economic reasons).

With huge cuts to local authority budgets, increased responsibility and service cutbacks communities feel abandoned. They are falling into a deep spiral of unemployment, isolation and dereliction.

On the doorstep I talked to a Heywood and Middleton resident who had never voted before despite having a polling station across the road from her house. This time she was considering voting UKIP. I don’t know if I was more saddened by the fact that I was the first person of any political party to knock on her door in 30 years or that she had no hope or expectation of change.

So, as much as I don’t agree with it, I am not surprised that some people voted UKIP in Heywood and Middleton. They clearly feel ignored by the main political parties, and UKIP present an easy, uncomplicated focus of their frustrations. Whilst many may be suspicious of UKIP, they believe the ‘old’ parties have failed and they seem willing to take a chance on the ‘new’.

So how do we get this disillusioned electorate to the polling station? The answer starts with the fundamentals of campaigning. We cannot ignore our safe seats. With increasing apathy among our core vote and a sense outside London that they have been left behind, we need to reinvigorate local parties. We need to show our presence in the community, knock on doors, canvass critically and listen to the electorate. By being relevant to the community we can we win back their trust and only then can we expect to win back their votes.