Forget Hartlepool’s Labour history. By one key measure it was one of the most difficult seats for Labour to win. Hartlepool is not just in England, but is a town that has more voters who say they are “more English than British” than most others. Equally important, it has fewer voters who say they are “more British than English” than almost anywhere else.
It is the “more English” who have overwhelmingly supported both Brexit and Boris Johnson’s Conservatives and the “more British” who provide the bulk of Labour’s support.
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