Tom Newton Dunn @tnewtondunn
You’ve heard of Essex Man, Mondeo Man, and Worcester Woman. Now meet Workington Man - the northern, smaller town, pro-Brexit male swing voter who will decide the 2019 General Election.
www.thesun.co.uk/news/10239522/boris-johnson-election-north-rugby-towns/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
Boris Johnson must steal voters from Labour in Northern rugby towns like Workington for General Election success
IN the 1980s, Essex Man was the key target swing voter that gave Margaret Thatcher a decade in power.
By 1997, Tony Blair had to win over Mondeo Man, and it was David Cameron’s task in 2010 to woo Worcester Woman.
And
The new electoral stereotype has been pinned down by right of centre think tank Onward. Typically he is an older, Brexit-backing, working class man, who lives in a northern rugby league town.
The highest concentration of these key voters live in the Cumbrian coastal town of Workington, hence the name.
Traditionally loyal to Labour, Onward’s polling shows Workington Man struggles to identify with hard left Opposition boss Jeremy Corbyn.
But he does crave more security in a fast-changing world.
He also wants better wages rather than tax cuts in his family’s pockets, more cash spent on hospitals and schools, and for his local town to be done up.
Writing for The Sun today, Onward director and former No 10 adviser Will Tanner says Workington Man is highly susceptible to Mr Johnson’s message.
But Mr Tanner reveals: “To win him round, the Conservatives must promise more than the economic freedoms and tax giveaways they are known for.
“They need to offer protection from a modern world in which liberalising economic policies, globalisation and immigration have undermined work, wages and community.”
Well I know all about rugby league towns and that mentality...