What Happens Next?

I know it's early days, but I think I've just watched the next leader of the Labour Party on the Andrew Marr show. We all know the election campaign has started with John Macdonnell highlighting the capability of Rebecca Long-Bailey and 'Richard Burgon for Labour Leader' already appearing as a Twitter account. Now we know the 'acolyte-approved nodding dog' has little chance of success because, although he represents a northern seat, he has the misfortune of being the wrong gender.

Despite the politically correct position being that it's 'policies that matter, not personalities', most of us, including those voters from the working class north, know that's bollocks. The word coming strongly out of Labour circles is that the next Labour leader must be both female and from the north, before presumably attention turns to where they lie on the political spectrum and this is clearly where Lisa Nandy up there in Wigan is going to have a mighty battle on her hands.

Interestingly, right from the start of her interview 'down the line' from Salford, the highly contentious issue of 'metropolitanism' came to the fore. Of course it's not a Tory 'trope', but rather the reality highlighted by the BBC offer of an interview being conditional on her travelling down to London. She refused and called it out. She put the issue centre-stage of her initial pitch for leadership by suggesting that Labour headquarters should move out of London. No doubt that will mark her out for some unpleasantness, along with not being a Corbyn supporter of course. 

So, we have a very interesting political situation developing here because like it or not, the focus is going to move very much north of Watford, well beyond the Tory 'shires' and Labour 'metropolitan' North London. HS2 will be coming north and Crossrail 2 is dead. The BBC is already big in Salford and Channel Four is moving to Leeds. Lots of infrastructure is going to get built in places very unfamiliar to the 'metropolitan' elite because clearly Boris Johnson now feels obliged to deliver on all those rash promises in the vain hope of hanging on to the former Labour heartlands. 

Lisa Nandy clearly gets all this and can see that with the right Leader, the right policies and all this Tory investment, the whole UK economy can be re-balanced with previously neglected areas beginning to feel reconnected and a Labour Party being able to take advantage. We all know deep down a leopard doesn't change its spots and other Tory Party policies will still hurt disadvantaged and marginalised people. Boris could find the next General Election quite a bit more of a challenge.