PUTTING THE BOOTLE INTO LABOUR...

The proud working-class town has been a safe Labour seat since 1945. But now, many once-loyal voters are seeing red for all the wrong reasons

- By Adam Toms

THE Merseyside town of Bootle is a known Labour stronghold, a seat so red — the saying goes — that votes here are weighed rather than counted. Since 1945, a Labour MP has emerged victorious in the north-west constituency at every general election and last year it ranked second least marginal safe seat in the country.

Indeed, only nearby Chorley under Sir Lindsay Hoyle had the safer seat - tradition dictates that the House of Commons' speaker is unchallenged by major political parties at elections.

Wander about Bootle's streets, and you'll be told residents vote “with their hearts, not their minds”, many following their parents' politics. Some put their cross in Labour's box out of class and family loyalty without ever being able to name the party leader, it's claimed.

But when I visited on a cold and overcast day, I found a similar cooling towards Labour since it took control of Westminster.

Apathy and anger are swirling around these parts, listed among the UK's 10% most deprived areas.

Reform UK scored the second-highest vote share last year, an increase of 6.9% since 2019. And this upswing was mirrored by those I encountered, with several expressing a wish to vote for Nigel Farage's party at the next election. Which certainly won't be welcome news to Labour MP Peter Dowd.

Up close, Bootle looks like it has seen better days. The closest the area has to a centre is around the Strand shopping centre, which is currently having some work done to it.

Customers are using temporary toilets on the ground floor of its car park. Incidentally, this is the mall that two-year-old Jamie Bulger was notoriously taken from before his horrific murder in 1993.

Outside on Stanley Road are some pubs patronised by senior gentlemen keeping an eye on the races at Cheltenham with a pint of lager or two; plus a Poundbakery, a barbers, a McDonald's, a Burger King, banks and some independent businesses.