The Battle for Birkenhead as Brexit and poverty loom large

As Parliamentarians go, Frank Field is a household name.

The veteran 77-year-old MP has represented the Birkenhead constituency since 1979 - with all but the last year of that stint under the banner of the Labour Party.

Mr Field is a maverick and while some rate him as a loyal, caring and hard-working Member of Parliament - others have been upset by his choice of language, views on Brexit and decision to write for the locally reviled S*n newspaper.

But whatever your views are on the long-serving campaigner, all will agree that securing another term as Birkenhead's MP on December 12 will be his toughest challenge to date.

In 2017, he romped home with a huge 77% of the vote - but of course this was while he was a Labour MP in a constituency that only ever votes Labour candidates into power.

Some may point out that for the past four decades that Labour candidate has been Mr Field - but when it comes to a General Election, the feeling is that most vote along national party lines.

The candidates

Enter Mick Whitley, a long-serving local union official and former car plant worker.

He is one of a number of left-wing Labour members vying to become MPs across Merseyside and has strong union backing - as well as the support of the influential Momentum group.

As a Labour MP Mt Field often ploughed his own path - and regularly disagreed with the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, before quitting the party over claims of bullying and antisemitism last year.

Mr Whitley describes himself as a committed socialist with views very much in line with the Labour leader - and he will head into the Birkenhead battle as the favourite.

Asked about his priorities for the town, Mr Whitley focussed on Labour's plan to improve lives and the environment - steering clear of Brexit in an area that voted to leave the EU.

He said: "Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution will tackle the climate emergency and foster renewed prosperity for our town.

"The Wirral is full of opportunities for new clean energy projects – these will be vital to cut carbon emissions.

"I will lobby the government to take the necessary measures ensuring that Peel Ports fast track its implementation plan for Wirral Waters. This will bring secure, well-paid jobs and apprenticeships for the people of Birkenhead.

"After a decade of cuts, thousands of youth workers have lost their jobs and services have been devastated. Labour will reverse cuts to these vital services and introduce a £10 minimum wage from 16 year olds, with free bus travel for under 25s.

"Labour will provide £6 billion worth of free Personal Social Care and move towards a National Care Service. Furthermore, we will stand up for the rights of WASPI women, as well as fighting for over-75s to keep their free TV licences."

On a local level, his pledges to Birkenhead include opposing walk-in closures, defending green spaces, scrapping Universal Credit, removing NHS privatisation and installing a regulated and affordable transport system to connect Birkenhead and other communities.

He added: "I served as Regional Secretary for Unite the Union, covering over 250,000 workers for five years and have a track record of standing beside shipyard workers and council workers across our region.

"I was also heavily involved in supporting bus workers across the North West, including on Laird Street, Birkenhead. As a result, I understand the social challenges which our town faces in a job market where every penny counts."

Ship building is of course ingrained in the Birkenhead community because of the world famous Cammell Laird business.

The yard has been through tough times of late, with the threat of job cuts leading to regular protests.

Mr Field said he spent his last day in Parliament - potentially ever - lobbying for the yard.

He said: "On the last day of this Parliament, I was lobbying on behalf of Cammell Laird at the Ministry of Defence. I was there to propose a ‘Buy British’ policy for defence orders to boost our manufacturing and shipbuilding industries.

"Supporting the yard is part of a broader strategy we need to create more well-paid jobs in Birkenhead.

"Alongside this, we need our community health and care services to be strengthened, much better bus services, more police on the streets, urgent action to counter climate change, and an end to the austerity that has pushed so many people into poverty. These are the issues I’ve been campaigning on and which, if I’m returned to Parliament, I will continue to prioritise."

Mr Field has made no bones about the direction he feels the Labour Party has gone in - and he did so again in an appeal to Birkenhead voters.

He said: "The campaign in Birkenhead will also resolve itself down to a choice over the kind of Labour party that people wish to see.

"My appeal to voters will be to continue the great radical tradition of the Labour party which saw through Clement Attlee and Harold Wilson, as against one which is consumed by an extremist group of individuals who do not represent in any way mainstream Labour voters’ attitudes."

Its important to remember that Frank Field and Mick Whitley are not the only players in this fascinating Merseyside battle.

The Conservatives came in second place in 2017 with candidate Claire Rowles who will be hoping that the Tories Brexit-themed message will get home in a leave-voting area.

The Greens finished last place in that election, with a measly 943 votes but the party's standing in the area has been growing rapidly.

They snatched two seats from Labour at this year's local elections to take their overall total to three.

And two of those seats are in the Birkenhead and Tranmere ward - including leader Pat Cleary who will be hoping his pro-environment message gets support when he stands for the Birkenhead Parliamentary seat in December.

He said: "Birkenhead has suffered 40 years of decline under the current MP and the Labour Party.

"Labour has failed to invest in the town and actively undermined it by permitting and promoting out-of-town developments that have sucked spending and investment out of Birkenhead.

"Labour’s transport policies and poor town planning have prioritised traffic over healthy communities.

"It’s spectacular failure to cooperate with the town’s largest developer have slowed dramatically the pace of development in Wirral Waters. The current MP, both in and out of Labour, has consistently characterised the town in terms of poverty and yobbery. This has affected investment and undermined Birkenhead’s reputation.

"In contrast, I am offering fresh thinking, fresh ideas and fresh energy to help build a town we can all be proud of again.

"That ambition is based on a solid platform. For the past decade, I have campaigned tirelessly for the people of Birkenhead. The council ward I represent – Birkenhead and Tranmere – has been transformed from one of the safest Labour wards in the country to one where two-thirds of residents voted Green last May."

Mr Cleary is pitching himself and his party as the clear choice for those in Birkenhead who want to remain in the European Union.

He said: "We are the clear challengers to Labour in Birkenhead.

"Almost one-third of votes in the constituency last May were cast for the Green Party. This is double what the Lib Dems achieved. We also easily out-polled the Lib Dems in Birkenhead in the European elections. For Birkonians who want to remain in the EU we are the obvious choice."

Unsurprisingly, the Liberal Democrats and their candidate - local councillor Stewart Kelly - have something to say about that.

Cllr Kelly said: "The key question for this election is the danger Brexit poses to the jobs and services of the people of Birkenhead.

"There seems no end to this long national nightmare called Brexit.

"The lies of the leave campaign two years ago have been exposed - there is a real danger to the NHS, the price of food and medicine, and the threat to local jobs; I don’t believe Brexit is worth a single job loss.

"My Labour, Tory, Independent, and Brexit Party opponents all offer different forms of Brexit but each in reality are offering a fall in living standards and years more of wrangling as trade deals with the likes of America thrashed out, with right wingers there salivating over the likely sell off of the NHS that will follow.

He added: "It’s either another 20 or 30 years of talking all things Brexit, or we can revoke article 50 and start talking about the more pressing issues we face such as Climate Change, Public Health investment and housing, these issues are not being properly addressed.

"The Liberal Democrats are recognised as the biggest, and best placed, Party that can end this and move our nation on to tackling these important issues."

So what do the people of Birkenhead think?
 

We've heard from the candidates - with some wanting to talk about Brexit and others discussing the specific needs of Birkenhead.

But what do the people of this famous Merseyside town think the election rests on? We went to find out.

Kyle Phennah, 23, who is unemployed, told the ECHO: "I'm going to vote for Labour. I've got a lot of student debt and I think Labour will help me out with that more than the Tories."

He also thought Labour's advocacy of a living wage was important, as well as its commitment to public services.

He added: “There’s no guarantee we’ll stay in the EU or leave whoever gets in. I’m voting Labour because of their general policies, I agree with a lot of them.

“I haven’t read much about Frank Field’s policies, but I know he’s always been my MP and i’ll read his stuff before the election.”

Similarly, Sam Turner, 23, who works as a chef, said: “Getting wages up is my main concern and I trust Labour to do that more than the Conservatives.

"My family have always voted Labour and that's what I've always done."

Just like Mr Phennah, he was not familiar with Frank Field's manifesto and what he was standing for.

However, these views were far from unopposed in the town.

Kevin Bibby, 58, runs Kev's Kabin, a cafe in Birkenhead. He said: "I'll be voting Tory. I used to vote Labour, but I've seen this town get run down over the years.

"Labour have been in here for ever and what have they done? They can't blame anyone else, it's always been them here.

"Frank Field has been the MP for 40 years and he's not done anything. Only now is he saying he'll do all this stuff."

While Mr Bibby was frustrated with Mr Field's time in office, he saved his harshest words for Jeremy Corbyn: "Every time socialists are in power, they ruin the country. They never leave it in a better state than it was in before."

Mr Bibby was also a firm supporter of Brexit, he said: "It might hurt us [his shop] in the short-term, but then we'll recover. We voted out and we want to leave.

"I would consider the Brexit Party if I thought they had a chance, though I think they'd mess the country up if they were in power for longer than six months."

All of those the LDRS spoke to who opposed Labour, voted to leave the EU in 2016 and many had concerns about Jeremy Corbyn's foreign policy views.

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Mike, 38, a cleaner, said: "I'm going to vote Tory now, i've voted Tory the last couple of times. I voted Labour before 2010.

"I'm voting Tory this time because of Boris, there's something I like about him. I won't vote Labour because of Jeremy Corbyn.

"I would vote Labour if they were all like Frank Field, he is a good local MP. I know he's secured a lot of money for Birkenhead recently. But I won't vote Labour until Jeremy Corbyn leaves."

This was a fairly common theme that could spell trouble for Frank Field.

Many people were fond of him and believed he has fought for their area during his time as an MP, but those same people were persuaded by their pro-Brexit views and their lack of familiarity with Mr Field's new party to vote Conservative.

Talking to people outside the bus stop next to the Pyramid Shopping Centre, it was clear that while political passions are running high at the moment, there is a sizeable minority of people who simply do not want to vote in the upcoming General Election.

“I’m not going to vote. I don’t think it will make a difference, it doesn’t matter who I vote for”

Gerrard Tighe, 49, said: “I’m not going to vote. I don’t think it will make a difference, it doesn’t matter who I vote for.”

He shook his head when asked if Brexit, the biggest constitutional event since the Second World War, has changed his mind on that at all.

But Birkenhead’s non-voters were not purely driven by apathy, some were driven by exasperation at the incompetence of their politicians.

One lady, who did not want to be named, said: “The Prime Minister is a clown, he even resembles one.

“But I don’t think things will change with the current parties, so i’m not going to vote.”

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Joan Rowe, who is retired, disagreed. She was adamant that the environment was the biggest issue at this election and therefore she would be voting for Pat Cleary of the Green Party.

That was much more important than Brexit for her.

As the day drew to a close, Bev Moreton, 60, said that while much in politics may have changed some things didn’t: “I don’t agree with everything Labour say, but they are the only way to make things better and get the Tories out.

“The Tories get rich on the backs of poor people.

“I don’t agree with a second referendum and although I voted to remain the first time around I would probably vote leave this time.”

Like every non-Tory voter we spoke to, Ms Moreton made the point that other policy areas are more important than Brexit. She added: “I work in health care and we really suffer under the Tories. They don’t care about us.

“Labour are the ones that will support us.”

A wide range of opinions were expressed by the people of Birkenhead on Wednesday afternoon, something you may not expect in an area where Labour got 77% of the vote in the last election.

But their views show us that politics is in a state of flux, traditional loyalties are changing and Brexit is at the heart of reshaping the political climate.

Yet we will have to wait till December 13 to know just how much our politics has been shaken up.