I have a long-standing comrade, a former miner who fought in their yearlong strike. Always a union guy, he voted Labour all his life, as did his whole family. He is unlikely to vote Labour again.

“My Dad would be turning in his grave if he knew that I might not vote Labour,” he told me. “But let me tell you this. I didn’t leave Labour. Labour left us.” Sadly, this sentiment is now commonplace.

I represent a constituency in the “Red Wall,” similar to the Rust Belt in America. Our areas voted Labour for a century. But many started voting Conservative in recent times. Many more stopped voting altogether. And more recently, some are turning to the right-wing Reform UK party.