Podcast Appearances
Out on the streets of Ashton and Hindley, neat rows of red brick semis stand shoulder to shoulder under a beautiful cloudless sky.
The smell of Sunday roasts drifts from kitchen windows as volunteers tramp up garden paths, past hanging baskets and fluttering Union and St George flags.
Lee, a newly elected local councillor, told me a bit more about the area and the voters.
Well, it's been Labour officially since 83, but it predates that by quite a long way.
You know, we're talking not long after the First World War.
It's never really been anything but Labour.
And in essence, it's been a victim of Manchester's success.
So the city centre's got this wonderful Manhattan skyline,
whilst it's towns around it, the town centres are shutting down.
The high streets are closing.
There's litter on the streets.
You know, they just haven't spent any time focusing on the peripherals.
What's the character, the nature of the people?
The core is your solid, working class, backbone, backbone of the country, completely.
I know it's said over and over again, but it couldn't be any truer of the people of the whole borough, you know, whether it's Wigan, Makefield, Lee and Atherton,
the salt of the earth you know we've come from mining backgrounds you know a lot of people have worked at Heinz after the pits have been closed and very much salt of the earth
Further down the road, Richard was chatting to a homeowner on their doorstep.
You with us?
Your mate's with us?
Yeah, I am, yeah.