Abstract
his study investigates why the Labour Party experienced an electoral collapse in the Tees Valley – historically a Labour stronghold within England’s Red Wall – between 2005 and 2019. It argues that the region’s dramatic realignment in 2019, when the Conservatives captured four of its seven seats, was the culmination of a much earlier and deeper erosion of Labour support than Brexit and Jeremy Corbyn. This study examines why this decline occurred, when the first signs of erosion emerged, and how national and local factors interacted to reshape party loyalty within a single region.Using a qualitative political history approach, the research draws on 28 interviews with local political figures – mainly councillors – supported by contemporary newspaper archives. This method offers a grass-roots perspective often absent from existing analyses, which have tended to focus on national polling or MPs’ accounts. The study also develops the concept of the ‘Red Block,’ arguing that the Red Wall is better understood as a set of regional clusters sharing industrial legacies and political trajectories.
Across four general elections, the findings show that Labour’s decline was gradual, predating both Brexit and Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. It began in the late New Labour period and was intensified by the 2008 economic crisis, the closure of Redcar steelworks, and perceptions of weak leadership under Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband. UKIP further eroded Labour’s base, while locally rooted Conservative figures – namely Ben Houchen after his 2017 mayoral victory – provided an increasingly credible alternative. These dynamics meant that Brexit and Corbyn’s unpopularity did not cause the collapse but instead crystalised existing disaffection, enabling the Conservative breakthrough in 2019.
By integrating local voices within national political developments, the study demonstrates that structural economic decline, leadership crises, and distinctive regional factors interacted for more than a decade to end Labour’s dominance in the Tees Valley.
| Date of Award | 11 Feb 2026 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Christopher Massey (Supervisor), Charlie McGuire (Supervisor) & Nigel Copsey (Supervisor) |