Today the village is unrecognizable. Workers wearing hi-vis vests walk to the area’s biggest employers, Wilko and B&Q, whose huge distribution center is on the site of the defunct colliery. It is no longer difficult to find conservative voters in places like Manton, a radical shift just a few years ago. “I’m a Tory voter but I’ve completely run away from them,” said John Taylor, 63, a semi-retired driver. The leadership contest was a distraction from the cost-of-living crisis, he said. “It’s taken a long time and they just haven’t focused on what everyone is most afraid of. That for me has been one of the most difficult issues – the inaction of the government at this time when people are literally really scared.” Manton, Nottinghamshire. Photo: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian On a night when Labour’s ‘red wall’ came down across the country, the constituency of Bassetlaw produced perhaps the most impressive result of the 2019 general election, electing a Conservative MP for the first time in 90 years – and with a colossal 18 point gap in the Tories, the biggest of the night. Labour’s share fell by 24.9%, believed to be the largest of any seat in the country. Taylor, a former prison officer, said he “can’t stand” Truss, the new prime minister: “When he was prisons minister he promised so much and nothing ever materialized and I think we’re looking at the same thing again. “ Truss, who embraced images of Thatcher during the seven-week leadership contest, inherits a healthy parliamentary mandate but one based on a fragile coalition of voters: rich true-blue seats in the south of England and former Labor heartlands such as the Bassetlaw. “I think she will be a good prime minister. He seems to have more contact with people [than Rishi Sunak]” said Julie Greenwood, a teacher’s aide who grabs fish and chips on her lunch break in Manton. The 57-year-old, a former Labor voter, said she backed the Conservatives for the first time in 2019. Will she stick with the Tories at the next election? “We’ll see how things go,” he said. Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clarke-Smith supported Truss but was loyal to Johnson to the bitter end. He told colleagues they “could be out” – lost – just 24 hours before Johnson ceded the prime ministership to more than 50 ministerial resignations on July 7. Clarke-Smith, a former teacher, has previously compared England footballers taking a knee to the Nazi salute and said food banks were being used as a “political weapon”. However, Johnson rewarded his loyalty by appointing the Education Secretary to his government’s death throes. It’s a position she will hope to retain under Truss, who she has supported since announcing her leadership bid. Former Labor voter Julie Greenwood said she backed the Conservatives for the first time in 2019 and believes Liz Truss will make a good prime minister. Photo: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian About two miles away in Worksop, Bassetlaw’s largest town, Kath and Sue – retail workers who did not want to give their surnames – were in despair about the economic climate. “We just need a miracle, don’t we?” said Cath, a lifelong Labor voter who did not believe Truss would provide the help needed to deal with the mounting bills: “If the latter couldn’t help us, where is he going to get the money?” At the Cockney Rebel clothing store, manager David Swain, 46, said people could not afford to wait for help: “Both of them should have drawn up an action plan of how they are going to act once they come into power. “ He added: “We cannot survive paying the kind of astronomical bills that are being talked about.” Around one in seven households in Bassetlaw – more than 7,000 in total – already live in fuel poverty, higher than the national average, according to campaign group National Energy Action. The Conservatives won the seat by 14,013 votes, a feat not seen in the constituency since Tony Blair’s landslide victory in 1997. Simon Greaves, Labor leader of Bassetlaw District Council, said voters were coming back to the party “together” and that it will go red in the next election.
