Workington life-long Labour supporter backed Boris Johnson as he couldn’t vote for ‘Jeremy Corbyn and Loony Left’

FOR a life-long Labour supporter, voting for Boris was like wanting a favourite football or rugby team to lose. But when I got in the polling booth on Thursday, I did not hesitate for a moment to give him my vote. Because there was no way whatsoever that I was going to vote for Jeremy […]

FOR a life-long Labour supporter, voting for Boris was like wanting a favourite football or rugby team to lose.

But when I got in the polling booth on Thursday, I did not hesitate for a moment to give him my vote.

North News and Pictures

Sun reporter Mike Ridley (right) with his brother Mark Ridley in Workington, the town in Cumbria which has become a hotspot of the General Election[/caption]

Because there was no way whatsoever that I was going to vote for Jeremy Corbyn and the Loony Left.

At the end of October, a think tank announced that Boris needed to win over “Workington Man”.

Workington in West Cumbria had never elected a Conservative in a general election in 100 years.

These experts predicted Leave-supporting working people in rugby league towns such as Workington, Wigan and Halifax held the key to a Tory victory.

They were men and woman like me, aged over 45, who had always voted Labour, did not go to university but have a decent job and follow rugby league.

Those experts were spot on because I had been deeply concerned about the prospect of Labour getting in.

NO SURPRISES

I wasn’t at all surprised that the Conservative candidate I voted for beat Labour’s Sue Hayman, the first shadow minister of the night to lose a seat.

But what did surprise me was the near-ten per cent swing to the Tories as Mark Jenkinson became MP for this former steel town and surrounding area.

That meant that thousands of people felt just like me and had abandoned Labour in favour of the Conservatives.

In 2016, six out of ten in Workington chose to leave Europe.

But Thursday wasn’t “just about Brexit”. Labour has completely lost touch with the working man and woman in the North.

If it had just been about leaving Europe, those Labour supporters who switched could have voted for the Brexit Party or the Lib Dems.

Instead, Workington Men — and Women — chose to take a massive gamble on Boris.

Whether you like him or not, there is no doubt he gets things done. Corbyn never would.

Boris may not deliver on everything, but as long as he has a bloody good go — and I think he will — he will continue to get my support.

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