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4 March 2019updated 05 Oct 2023 8:28am

“There’ll be an uprising”: Hartlepool on life as a Brexit town with no deal in sight

Leavers and Remainers alike in the coastal community are concerned about the outcome of Westminster’s recent dramas.

By Anoosh Chakelian

People walk along the beach at The Headland area of Hartlepool, northern England on March 8, 2017. As Prime Minister Theresa May puts Britain on the path to Brexit, her Conservative Party suddenly has a fighting chance in post-industrial areas like Hartlepool where Labour has traditionally dominated. / AFP PHOTO / OLI SCARFF / TO GO WITH AFP STORY by JAMES PHEBY (Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images)

Seventeen years ago, Hartlepool was ahead of the populist curve. In May 2002, the coastal town in the north east of England elected a monkey as its mayor. Well, sort of.

The football club’s mascot, a man in a monkey suit, ran on a pledge of free daily bananas for all Hartlepool schoolchildren, and won.

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