Bank across Britain: Safe seat for work in Sheffield has mixed feelings by Keir Starmer | Politics News

With betting being an unexpected theme of this election, we took our parliamentary group to the Sheffield dog track.

The punters are lined up at the side of the arena and the people of Sheffield have come for a perfectly legal rampage in which the greyhound can run faster, whilst chasing a mechanical hare that it will never be able to catch.

Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough is one of the most working-class constituencies in the UK – the seventh most deprived in England and Wales.

At Owlerton Stadium many punters said they would not vote, one man in his 80s proudly said he had never voted, but those who said they would go to the polls on July 4th say they want change.

Greyhound trainer Callum Fradgley said: “I’d like to see Work beat him personally, but that’s just a personal choice. I would like a government that is more for the working class.”

Neil Kelly, a teacher spending a day with his family, said: “All you have to do is walk into a school to see that spending may be rising, but it’s not rising like everything else. I work in a school in Sheffield for autistic children and the facilities we have in some places are downright Victorian.”

Referring to Labor’s policy to eliminate the VAT exemption on private school fees, Mr Kelly adds: “I can only see that the application of VAT to private schools will have a positive impact on public schools if that expenditure is allocated to public schools”.

Howard Wood, a greyhound hauler, told us: “I’m voting Labour. I have voted for the Liberals in the past, but then they formed a coalition with the Conservatives, so I will never vote for them again. Keir Starmer He seems like a cold person, but he is a cunning man and will be a good leader.”

Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough are safe working locations.

It was David Blunkett in the Blair/Brown years, when it was simply Sheffield Brightside, and Blunkett kept it when the Hillsborough area was added and David Cameron formed his coalition in 2010.

Here, they voted for Ed Miliband in 2015, they voted for Jeremy Corbyn in 2017 and 2019. It’s a safe bet they will vote for Starmer in 2024 – but even so there are mixed feelings about the current leader of the Labor Party.

Anne Ellis, a bag operator and retired midwife, told us: “I’ve always voted Labor, always, but for the first time in my life I’m thinking about not doing that, because I think they’re too right-wing for me. And I think It’s time to maybe look for an alternative, maybe the Liberal Democrats, I’m not sure.”

“I would have Jeremy Corbyn back,” she laughs, “but not everyone would.”

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Greyhound racing commentator Darren Driver said: “I think I’m like a lot of people, I think the election and the campaign at the moment is just boiling my head because there seems to be constant scoring.

“Conservatives saying what Labor won’t do, Labor saying what the Conservatives won’t do, Lib Dems saying what they both won’t do. to do.”

Joe Wood, a greyhound owner and retired welding engineer, said: “I’m very, very undecided because I can’t stand the Labor leader Starmer.

“I know he’s a wild card, but I keep thinking about Reform – just to put the cat among the pigeons. He’s outspoken and doesn’t hesitate like most of them do. Over the years I’ve been traditionally Labor, but they don’t me excite.”

See more information:
Agricultural community asks for “more support”
Artists and bettors evaluate votes in electoral circus
Sikh voters in key Labor areas share wish lists

Starmer may not excite everyone in this dog race, but he has led his party to a position where it would be a huge shock if they didn’t cross the line ahead in this election.

It’s been an exhausting journey back to political relevance, but as it stands, it looks like this electorate will get the government they vote for, for the first time in almost two decades.