HUNCHED in a Greggs doorway, a scruffy-looking homeless man begs for cash.
He is curled in the shadow of a building site, where a brand-new cinema is being constructed as part of a £90million programme to redevelop the seaside town of Blyth, Northumberland.
But despite the cash injection, locals feel let down and “forgotten” by the Labour government they voted in last year – reflecting the views of two-thirds of voters in ‘Red Wall’ towns like theirs.
The hugely unpopular Culture Hub project, which includes three cinema screens, has been widely derided amid fears the money is being wasted.
Especially given, just last year, the town’s Keel Row Shopping Centre was demolished.
“Well, just look at the state of it,” one woman tells us as she walks past. “Blyth has been given money, but it’s mismanaged.
“They’re building a cinema in the centre, but why? There used to be four cinemas in Blyth and they all closed.
“They have knocked down the shopping centre. We need shops, a thriving market. Not three cinema screens.”
The Red Wall town has been delivered a series of blows over the decades, including the closure of the shipyards and coal mines, which have led to economic decline.
In 2019, Blyth elected its first Tory MP since the seat was created in 1950.
But in 2024, after the constituency merged with neighbouring town Ashington, Labour veteran Ian Lavery claimed the seat.
And now, voters are ready to turn their back on both parties and switch allegiance to Reform UK in the hope their luck will change.
It comes ahead of next month’s local elections, in which the party’s leader, Nigel Farage, has vowed to give Labour “one hell of a run for their money” and park his “tanks on the lawns of the Red Wall”.
Local resident Robert Millican, 42, tells us he will be voting for Farage at the next General Election.
Robert, who is unemployed, said: “The Government has destroyed Labour values such as looking after pensioners. The Winter Fuel Allowance has disappeared.
“The National Insurance hikes are going to cost jobs.
“What they are doing with the PIP system is going to have a massive impact. I know people who use PIP money to buy medications and equipment that they can’t get on the NHS.
“They are more like the Conservatives. There isn’t a massive gap between the two parties.
“People didn’t get what they voted for with Labour. They said they wouldn’t raise taxes, but they have used stealth taxes instead with the National Insurance contributions.
“We’ve just swapped one for the other, they are all the same.
“I’m only voting for Reform because I’m sick of Labour and the Conservatives. Maybe it’s a chance to give someone else a go?
“People are poorer now than they were a few years back. Nothing has got better since they took office.”
Dashed rejuvenation
In 2020, the town was given a glimmer of hope when plans for an electric car battery plant were announced, which would have created 8,000 jobs.
But in another devastating blow, the project was scrapped after the firm behind it, Britishvolt, hit financial difficulty and sold the land to US investment firm Blackstone.
The company plans to develop an AI data centre – but it won’t bring in as many jobs as the battery plant would have and locals fear they won’t get a look in.
Robert says the high unemployment rate and a heroin problem are the biggest issues in the area. He believes these should have been prioritised over regenerating the town centre.
The mammoth development will include three screens, operated by Jam Jar Cinemas, a café, and an events space for cultural activities and learning.
The Energy Central Institute, a higher education facility supporting the low carbon and renewable energy industry, is also being constructed.
The site will include town centre parking and potentially a hotel.
Drug plague
Shops in the town centre have struggled and many closed in recent years[/caption]
Robert added: “The biggest issues in Blyth are shoplifting and drug abuse, and there are no resources to tackle them.
“It’s a heroin and a cannabis problem. The addicts beg outside of Morrisons, you know they aren’t homeless, they are just looking for money to fund their drug habit.
“We should have put money into that, instead of the cinema.
“The unemployment rate is really high. There is no industry here, we’ve lost all of the pits and shipbuilding yards.
“The battery factory is going to be a data centre, but it won’t create that many jobs. It sounds great saying they are putting £10billion into building the factory but the locals are not going to see that cash.
“Local people won’t get those jobs, they will be bringing their own people over because it’s specialist work.
“There aren’t many jobs for locals there.
“I don’t know what they plan to do with Blyth. It’s a dead end town now, nobody comes here anymore.
“We have an underfunded police force. I’ve been walking around this morning and haven’t seen one police officer.
“It’s almost lawless. The staff in stores are terrified half the time because they don’t know what is going to happen when shoplifters come in.
“The whole country has gone soft, we have a nanny state approach to everything.
“The shops are all dying off, you can’t buy clothes, but there are loads of vape shops.”
Former glory days
Blyth used to be a big ship building town but industry has declined[/caption]
What was once a bustling town centre with a thriving marketplace is certainly a shadow of its former self.
It is full of vape, charity and bargain shops, with many premises boarded up.
Blyth was once home to the North East’s biggest shipyard, proud to have built the Royal Navy’s first seaplane carrier, Ark Royal, in 1914. But when the yard closed in 1966, 1,400 jobs went with it.
The coastal town was delivered another harsh blow when the Bates coal mine ceased operation in 1986.
Despite Kier Starmer’s government winning back the seat less than one year ago, Mary Baxter, 72, says locals are already regretting their decision, with many planning on voting for Reform UK in May elections.
What is the Labour Red Wall?
The ‘Red Wall’ is a cluster of constituencies that have traditionally voted Labour for generations.
It is located across the Midlands and the north of England and includes 42 constituencies.
Politician James Kanagasooriam coined the phrase the Red Wall.
The ‘fall of the Red Wall’ refers to these constituencies voting Conservative instead of Labour and turning “blue”, which famously happened in the 2019 General Election.
The retired sales representative said: “Labour voters are disappointed. Quite a few people I know are looking to Reform now.
“I’ve lived in Blyth all my life, and it has just gone downhill.
“It’s awful. It started to decline in the 90s. Before that, it had a thriving market, but there’s nothing here now.
“We used to have industry but there’s nothing here now. Everyone has to commute to other cities or work from home.
“I’m not too happy with Labour. I’m a WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality), so I’m still waiting for my money, and they have gone back on all their promises.
“They hit pensioners straight away with the Winter Fuel Allowance and by taxing pensions.
“Their National Insurance Contributions are going to make the declining high street worse.
“They are not helping the working people.”
Broken promises
The seaside town is on the North East coast above Newcastle[/caption]
Susan Curn, 69, a market worker in Blyth, added: “People feel forgotten about.
“The Labour government said they wanted to get people back into work, but because of the National Insurance increase, it is hard to employ people.
“I know someone who lost their job because they couldn’t afford to keep her on, so how does that policy work?
“The Labour government promised all these wonderful things to get into power, but it hasn’t worked.
“We’ve got customers who say we need to get Labour out. They have tried to do too much too soon.
“They are making the unemployment rate worse.
“There’s nothing here anymore. They pulled the shopping centre down, and there were some nice shops in there.”
Labour hopes
However, Labour voter William Gaines, 70, claims the Government haven’t been in long enough to make any real change.
The retired car repairer said: “I have never known anywhere else apart from Blyth. I have never wanted to leave because all of my family are here.
“People are friendly here but there is no industry left. Labour haven’t been in long enough to make a real change.
“When I was growing up, we had shipyards, but then they closed, and the pits closed.
“We just have some factories around Blyth now.
“I’m very disappointed they’ve closed all the banks, and I don’t know why they have knocked the shopping centre down.”
Glen Sanderson, the leader of Northumberland County Council told The Sun Blyth “is becoming a hive of activity and renaissance.”
He said: “The Port of Blyth is hugely important to the North East and NCC have just landed the Data Centre campus investment worth £10billion – the largest ever seen in the county, which will provide thousands of new jobs close to the town.
“In addition, NCC and the [previous] Conservative government have invested in re-opening the Northumberland Line – closed 70 years ago – with around 250,000 journeys already taken in just five months benefitting Blyth significantly.”