The government has announced the first 100 ‘left behind towns’ to get a share of a £3.6bn national regeneration fund - unexpectedly including the Stockport suburb and marginal Tory seat of Cheadle.
Boris Johnson had unveiled the new pot in a speech in Manchester in July , referring to the ‘long term decline’ of many areas just outside cities, including endemic health problems, generational unemployment and ‘down-at-heel’ high streets.
An M.E.N. analysis of the list of chosen areas , released today, shows a wealth of towns in marginal Labour seats in Leave-leaning areas, as well as traditional bellweather constituencies and Conservative marginals the party will be hoping to hold onto.
The latter includes Cheadle, in a seat the Tories had fought for years to eventually take back from the Liberal Democrats in 2015 and one likely to be a key Lib Dem target again this time.
Aside from suspecting the Prime Minister's motives, one of its own councillors also expressed some doubt that it is even a town.
The list has heightened suspicions that the fund is being used solely as a political device, leading Labour to blast it as 'pork barrelling to a naked degree', a reference to a practice in US politics that sees government money specifically targeted at local areas in order to win votes.
Cheadle councillors welcomed the - as yet unspecified - cash, but also expressed suspicions.
“To say I was surprised by the news today would be something of an understatement,” said Cheadle Labour councillor David Meller, who is also cabinet member for regeneration on Stockport council.
“Cheadle has been selected for this by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy - but not Stockport as a whole.
“I obviously welcome news that money is coming into Cheadle, which is now apparently a town, but the timing of this seems very suspect indeed.
“I note Milton Keynes, which has two highly marginal Conservative seats, has benefited from this fund as well.
“As the first Labour councillor in Cheadle constituency for over 50 years and being the relevant council cabinet member now involved with this fund, I can see the potential benefits: but it’s brought with it so many questions that have left me scratching my head.
“For example, this money could benefit the whole of Stockport, Cheadle included. But is this money just for Cheadle constituency itself?
“Either way, I just hope this isn’t being done for cynical purposes with an election looking all but certain.”
Tom Morrison, Lib Dem councillor for Cheadle, said the area’s high streets had suffered in recent years - but also suggested the Prime Minister was ‘playing games’.
“Obviously this is a welcome opportunity for Cheadle, which has seen it’s local high streets suffer under the Conservative government,” he said.
“However, this funding will be not even begin to cover the huge economic impact that Brexit will have on local businesses and organisations across the constituency.
“Boris Johnson should stop playing political games with our area and instead fix the complete mess he is making of the country and start by ending the threat of a no-deal Brexit immediately.”
The first wave of the £3.6bn fund was released in the Chancellor’s spending statement earlier this week, in which he said £241m would be made available between now and April 2021.
On that basis, each town on the list will get somewhere between £2m and £3m each, although government says they will receive up to £25m.
In Greater Manchester, Bolton, Rochdale and Oldham are all included, areas that have seen their high streets suffer significantly in recent years, as well as being particularly hard-hit by austerity.
Both Bolton and Rochdale town centres also serve Leave-leaning Labour constituencies likely to be targeted by the Conservatives in the upcoming election.
Also on the list are two towns in the super-marginal Midlands Labour seat of Newcastle-under-Lyme, as well as the Midlands Tory swing-seat of Telford. Walsall, which has one if not two marginal seats in its vicinity, plus Swindon and Nuneaton, both considered classic bellweather seats during general elections, are also included, as well as Peterborough, which Labour narrowly held in a by-election earlier this year.
Morley - in the Yorkshire marginal of Morley and Outwood, held by Labour’s Ed Balls until the Tories won it in 2010 - features too, having been the stage for an embarrassing run-in between Boris Johnson and a member of the public on Thursday that saw the Prime Minister politely told to ‘please leave leave my town’.
According to the government’s announcement , the towns fund ‘builds directly on the government’s commitment to decentralising funding and decisions away from Whitehall’, although it goes on to say that towns will be given ‘eligibility criteria’ which will dictate what they can and can’t apply to use it for, with the decision apparently ultimately made in Whitehall.
However northern powerhouse minister Jake Berry, whose own constituency features on the list in the form of Darwen - part of the Rossendale and Darwen seat - said the move showed government was listening to local concerns.
“In July, the Prime Minister promised to level up 100 towns across the country, and today we’re delivering that promise," he said.
“The best answers for local people will come from local people, that’s why we have listened to people living in these towns and will support them with a mega £3.6 billion fund to drive jobs and economic growth.
“Five years on from the launch of the Northern Powerhouse, we are reaffirming our commitment to the people of the North so they have the support they need to be at the leading edge of a confident, global Britain when we leave the EU on 31 October.”
Communities secretary Robert Jenrick, whose constituency has also a town on the list in the form of Newark-on-Trent, added: “Ensuring that prosperity and opportunities are available to everyone in this country, not just those in London or our biggest cities, is at the heart of the mission of this government.
“We want to level-up our great towns, raising living standards and ensuring they can thrive with transformative investment in transport, technology, skills and culture.
“I will now work with local people from the 100 communities announced today to agree proposals to invest up to £25 million in each place.
“I hope these deals will provide the investment and the impetus for long-term renewal ensuring each town can look to the future with a new optimism.”
Labour dismissed the fund as transparent electioneering, however.
Shadow communities secretary Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish and an election coordinator for the party, said: "This is pork barrelling to a naked degree.
"In an attempt to deflect from the disaster of a week Boris Johnson has had, he's resorted to re-announcing a policy that he first announced back in July.
"Sadly, this is still a drop in the ocean compared to the billions the Conservatives have cut from local communities."
