Dear Consett Magazine readers,
Welcome to 2020
Can you believe it’s a new decade?
20 years ago this millennium began and almost 40 years ago on September 12, 1980, the Consett Steelworks closed for the last time. Despite many protests, the Steelworks in Consett closed under a Margaret Thatcher lead Conservative government with the loss of 4,500 jobs in our town.
Fast forward to 2020 and many people who were around in Consett in the 1980s may not recognise the political landscape and thoughts of its people in the area. For many years the North West Durham area gave large majorities suggesting a safe seat for the Labour Party. In one of the general election’s biggest shocks, Richard Holden beat Labour’s Laura Pidcock to become North West Durham’s representative. Consett today is now represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Richard Holden of the Conservative and Unionist Party. North West Durham has never been represented by a Conservative MP. Holden won the North West Durham constituency with 1,144 votes more than Labour.
Shockingly, it seems the Brexit referendum’s outcome, scepticism of Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn and the British Governments overall inability to ‘Get Brexit Done’ has caused a shift in the mindset of the Consett’s populace from Labour to Tory.
With such a divided opinion on the UK’s role in Europe and other important issues, can we the good people of Consett come together and make 2020 a great year for our rapidly growing, vibrant and beautiful town; despite our divided mindsets on political issues? The Consett Magazine team sure hopes so.
If you have any concerns you’d like your new local MP to discuss in Parliament, you can use the following contact information to get in touch with him:
Mr. Richard Holden,
House of Commons.
London
SW1A 0AA
Phone: 0207 219 3000
Email: richard.holden.mp@parliament.uk
Facebook: /Richard4NWDurham/
We’re always eager to hear from local people and businesses on topics that matter to you and the wider local community. If you’ve got an idea for a story you’d like to share with the people of Consett, please drop us an email on editor@consettmagazine.com or text us on 07497966171 – and remember we have almost 2,000 articles available online at consettmagazine.com!
Here at Consett Magazine, we’ve decided to give the print edition a bit of an overhaul with brand new page layouts and design changes. Please let us know what do you think?
All the best to everyone in 2020,
Barry Kirkham, Marco Elsy, and everyone who makes the Consett Magazine possible.
