Boris pins hopes on swing vote
THINK-TANK: WORKINGTON MAN STEREOTYPE CRUCIAL TO WIN PARLIAMENT MAJORITY
Rural constituency has been Labour for 100 years, but voted leave for Brexit.
Hot on the heels of Mondeo Man and Worcester Woman comes Workington Man – the swing voter whom British Prime Minister Boris Johnson needs to convince to win next month’s election.
At least that’s the theory of one thinktank, which has developed the latest in a tradition of alliteratively titled stereotypes considered crucial to winning a parliamentary majority.
Workington, a rural constituency on England’s most northwesterly coast, has been Labour for 100 years, with only a threeyear blip in the ’70s when it went Conservative.
But it voted leave in the 2016 EU referendum and the current Labour MP voted remain – a discrepancy that some believe could give Johnson a chance in the December 12 polls.
Repairing his lobster pot in a fishing hut near the harbour, Alan Ferris admitted he fits the description of “Workington Man” set out by the Tory-leaning Onward think-tank: an older, white, northern English nongraduate who voted for Brexit.
But the 67-year-old, who has held many jobs from coal mining to construction, said: “If I vote Conservative, it’ll be by mistake and I’d chop my fingers off so I won’t do it again.”
Hostility to the Tories is strong in this run-down former industrial town which, after the closure of its coal and steel works, is dependent for many jobs on the nearby Sellafield nuclear plant.
But many here also have doubts about Labour’s leftist leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has promised sweeping nationalisations.
Jeremy Corbyn is an absolute clown
He has vowed to renegotiate Britain’s exit terms with the EU and hold a second referendum, but has yet to say how he would campaign. Despite backing Labour his whole life, Ferris says he will not be voting next month.
“I can’t vote for Jeremy Corbyn.
He’s an absolute clown.
“And on Brexit, he’s totally neutral,” he said.
– AFP