Divided Dudley voters prepare for election
More than two-thirds of Dudley’s voters were in favour of leaving the European Union in last year’s referendum, putting it among the areas with the highest support for Brexit.
It followed strong support for UKIP in 2015 when the anti-EU party finished third in both of the town’s constituencies in 2015, achieving 24% in Dudley North and 19% in Dudley South.
But Brexit has been overshadowed by security in the final weeks of the election campaign, and traditional election battlegrounds of the NHS and public services have also been prominent.
Paul Forrest, director at the Midlands Economic Forum, thinks that people in the Black Country care more than just Brexit. He said: “Brexit is really important in this election, but the problems that the Midlands face are the same even without the concept of Brexit, and those issues include things like infrastructure, health and transport.
“The problem with the West Midlands is that there is a serious lack of public sector capital investment, particularly in transport. I think local businesses need to be looking at how political parties are approaching the industrial strategy and the Midlands Engine before making their decision on who to vote for.”
Dudley is very much split when it comes to politics, with its East and West constituencies having been replaced by the current North and South areas in 1997.
Dudley North has always returned a Labour MP although sitting MP Ian Austin is defending a majority of 4,181, which puts the seat 52nd on the Conservatives’ target list.
However Dudley South has proven to be a bellwether seat, returning an MP for the winning party in each of the five general elections. It turned blue back in 2010, and two years ago Mike Wood replaced his Conservative colleague Chris Kelly with a slightly-improved majority of 4,270.
It proved to be a tough election for the Liberal Democrats, as its vote collapsed – receiving just 478 in Dudley North and 828 votes in Dudley South.
Ben France, Liberal Democrat Candidate for Dudley North
Dudley North Liberal Democrat candidate Ben France, a lecturer at Dudley Sixth, is concerned that it is lack of investment in the area that is pushing young people out of Dudley.
He said: “One huge issue in Dudley is that a huge number of students leave the area and don’t return, so we have a skills shortage in the area, which desperately needs to be improved.
“We need investment and transport to hook us up to the rest of the Black Country and the West Midlands, we need to make the area more of an attractive place for young people to stay, study and live.
“Personally, I would like to see more creative outlets in the area and courses available for students – we are going to keep losing bright, intelligent young people for creative cities like London, Manchester and Liverpool.”
Paul Forrest also believes that the area does have a lot to aim for, and education is the force behind it. He said: “We have the most educated labour force that we have ever had at the moment, but we need to a system that can take young people from school into a work environment.
“The manufacturing industry is growing at such a speed and the education system is struggling to keep up with it.”
Tomorrow’s election will reveal just how the people of Dudley will vote now we are on course to leave the EU, as well as if the area is set to remain divided.
