On a bitterly cold grey Wednesday in Peterlee, County Durham, the Chancellor's budget announcement was met with widespread disappointment and a sense of political disillusionment. This town, once a bastion of Labour support, is now a symbol of the party's crumbling heartlands.
A Town's Lost Faith
The constituency of Easington, which includes Peterlee, was once considered one of Labour's safest seats. Today, the political landscape has shifted dramatically. Pollsters from Electoral Calculus indicate that if a general election were held now, Reform would have a 99% chance of unseating the current Labour MP, Grahame Morris. This staggering reversal was cemented in May when Reform won a staggering 65 seats in the Durham county council elections, compared to Labour's mere four.
David Taylor-Gooby, an 80-year-old former Labour councillor, captured the mood of the local party. He described the branch as "totally demoralised," a sentiment he believes is echoed across the country. "They need more backbone," he said of the current leadership. "They need to have a sense of moral purpose. They need to sort the economy out." He criticised the budget for lacking a coherent drive for growth, urging the party with its large majority to be bolder.
Voices from the High Street
Among shoppers in the town's dilapidated Castle Dene shopping centre, the budget's measures failed to resonate. Retired housing manager Marie Smith, a lifelong Labour voter, perceived the plans as a betrayal. "It goes against what they promised at the very beginning," she said, referencing pledges not to raise taxes. While she welcomed the lifting of the two-child benefit cap, she feels alienated from the party she grew up with. "It's not the Labour party any more... They're not for the working people any more."
For Kevin Sizer and Elizabeth Brindle, the budget simply did not affect them. Sizer pointed to a pressing local injustice: properties in Peterlee, one of the poorest areas, are often in the highest council tax bands in Durham. This sentiment highlights the deep-seated feeling of neglect. The data supports this; Easington ranks highly for deprivation and poor health, with a third of children under 16 in Peterlee living in relative poverty.
The Daily Struggle and Political Disconnect
The cost of living crisis remains a primary concern. Anne Hall, a 40-year-old part-time community nurse, illustrated the problem after a trip to Lidl. "It is just getting ridiculous," she stated, having spent over £90 on a weekly shop for her family of four without getting everything she needed. Her sister, Abigail Maughan, voiced concerns about the budget's impact on savers, wary of the risks associated with new Isa rules.
Despite the Labour cheers in Westminster for lifting the two-child benefit cap, the policy was met with scepticism by some in Peterlee, where a repeated refrain was, "If you can't afford to have children you shouldn't be having them." James Lyon, 69, summarised a broader anger, stating, "The state of the country is poor. It's the worst I've ever seen it... Peterlee is suffering, you just need to look round here. There is no money being put in." For the residents of this deprived town, the budget has done nothing to rebuild trust or offer a tangible path forward.
