When workers backed the Tories

STUART Waiton writes that “confusingly for some, the Tories now appear to be turning into the party of the working class” (“How Tories became unlikely working class heroes”, The Herald, May 12). It is worth recalling that such a situation is not entirely without precedent. The Scottish Conservatives and Unionists, between the first and second world wars and during the 1950s, received much working-class support, particularly from those in the west of Scotland who were Protestant. In fact, in the General Election of 1955 they won 50.1 per cent of the vote in Scotland. Moreover, Tory administrations in Scotland in the 1950s and 1960s played a role in what might be regarded as “levelling up” in the form of work on the Forth Road Bridge and the electrification of the railway system in Glasgow and around it.

It is clear from recent election results that many working people in England have now lost faith in Labour. They have felt that they have been taken for granted and, as a result, they have turned to the Tories in hope of the prospect of their lives being improved. Will these aspirational hopes be realised? Who knows, as yet. Perhaps there may yet be a swing from the SNP in Scotland if and when the benefits of levelling up, as promised by Boris Johnson, who is known to say more than his prayers, become more measurable and visible and the advantages of being a part of the United Kingdom are consistently advanced in a more convincing and effective manner.

Ian W Thomson, Lenzie.