Labour can learn a lot from Borehamwood; indeed, there is a lot Labour needs to learn from Borehamwood. Its 33,000 residents live in what local estate agents refer to as an area “consisting of a good choice of two and three bedroom properties priced up to £250,000”. Borehamwood presents a much more affordable choice to homebuyers than nearby Elstree and Radlett. This popular Hertfordshire town is located firmly within the London commuter belt, situated as it is less than 20 minutes and miles north of the capital.
From the 1920s onwards, Borehamwood became known as one of the main centres of the UK film, and later television, industries due to the presence of production studios. Following World War II, the town's population greatly increased, with large areas of council housing set up for displaced Londoners, most of which are now in private ownership.
Borehamwood, along with Radlett, Potter’s Bar and Bushey, is one of the four towns that make up the consistently Conservative parliamentary seat of Hertsmere, which carries the same name as the local council. Hertsmere has been Conservative since the seat was established in 1983. Its MP, James Clappison, is the slightly less colourful successor to one Cecil Parkinson.
Clappison’s 18,000 majority at the last election might look fireproof now, but in the halcyon days of 1997, Labour came within 3,000 votes of snatching this true blue seat. Labour has consistently remained second place in the constituency, with its vote concentrated in and around Borehamwood. Indeed, all three of Labour’s councillors on the local authority are elected in one of Borehamwood’s four wards (Cowley Hill).
Aspirational in outlook and affluent – but not that affluent, why is it that more voters in places like Borehamwood don’t see Labour as the party for them? Sure, partly because Labour has never needed to carry towns like Borehamwood in order to get the keys to Downing Street. So there has never been a need for Labour to work hard to listen to and learn from local voters.
The other reason is cultural: not everyone inside the Labour family understands the importance of aspiration for voters in these commuter belt seats. Some inside Labour see our role as exclusively about helping people who are struggling to get by and not also about helping those who are struggling to get on in life. This has been best encapsulated by Labour MP David Cairns, who said that Labour didn’t understand why someone would want a conservatory. Plenty of people have – or want – conservatories in Borehamwood. Until Labour understands why people want conservatories, these voters will continue to prefer Conservatives.
Stuart King is editor of Southern Front.
2comments:
But there concerns around affordable state schools and hospitals are equally as important
we are never going to win on taxwes are we
I believe even the middle classes want good quality public services and polls show this
it was the working class labour lost and white man van
our biggest problem as elesewhere was lib dems became the party of opposition to tories in the south
This doesn't strike me as the right question for Borehamwood in particular.
As you say, it still has Labour councillors. Why is this? What makes it different from its neighbours? I'm betting it has a lot more to do with a strong local organisation than with conservatories.
I'm also not sure David Cairns is the best person to cite on what Labour thinks about the south, being as he is an MP for a seat in the Greater Glasgow area. I'd suggest that local members in the south, many of whom will own or want to own conservatories themselves, might perhaps better understand how these areas tick than their colleagues north of the border.
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