THERE’S an all-pervading stench that could decide the local election in Newcastle-under-Lyme – but it has nothing to do with Partygate.
Voters here have decided that with Sir Keir Starmer mired in trouble over his own beer and curry night in lockdown, the politicians are all as bad as each other.
And what vexes them more is the revolting smell wafting from the local landfill site.
Key worker Trudi Sands, 41, told me: “The smell seeps into my house, even when the windows are shut.
“It makes people feel sick and your eyes run. My three kids are coughing all the time. It’s terrible.
“That’s the biggest issue, followed by the cost of living. I can’t afford to put the heating on.”
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Asked about Partygate — and Starmer’s Beergate, when he too was accused of attending a lockdown party — she said: “Both sides have done it. It’s a damn disgrace.”
This North Staffordshire former industrial town is classic Red Wall territory.
A former Labour stronghold, it flipped allegiances first at local level and then, at the 2019 General Election, it was part of the Boris Johnson landslide.
Now eyes are glued on local elections in areas like this to see if Partygate will finally sink political escapologist Mr Johnson.
Law student Naomi Ogbe, 20, thinks the furore has been “overspun”.
NO CONFIDENCE
The Keele University student added: “The party with the best fiscal policies will win the next election. People vote through their pockets, not their morals.
“The cost-of-living crisis is scary for a young person looking forward to a career and getting on the housing ladder.”
Tory backbenchers will be sharpening their knives, should tomorrow’s elections prove disastrous for Mr Johnson.
Newcastle’s MP Aaron Bell asked the Prime Minister in Parliament if he thought he was “a fool” for having followed strict lockdown rules for his grandmother’s funeral.
Later he submitted a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson.
Tomorrow 44 councillors will be elected to serve on Newcastle Borough Council, which is currently under Conservative control.
I arranged to meet Tory councillor Trevor Johnson at The Wulstan pub, where he was given a tongue-lashing by the landlady for not visiting her local business before — something he vehemently denied.
Asked why Boris Johnson wasn’t featured on his election leaflet, retired building surveyor Trevor, 73, replied: “We’re talking local issues, not national issues. I back Boris 100 per cent.”
The market town grew rich on coal mining, cotton mills and brick manufacturing.
Mr Johnson’s post-Brexit 2019 landslide saw Mr Bell become its first Tory MP since 1885.
Selling traditional oatcakes from a van in the market, Ivan Tabbernor, 59, said: “I can’t believe ex-miners who fought tooth and nail against the Tories then voted for Johnson.”
Offering a suggestion for the Red Wall collapse, he added: “All the money was spent in London, not here. It feels like we don’t matter.”
Frank, a 70-year-old ex-plasterer and former Ukip and Tory supporter, says Mr Johnson’s party has lost his vote because he believes the Government has failed on its promise to secure Britain’s borders.
Of the Home Office’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, he said: “It’s a good idea but I don’t think it will happen. Labour doesn’t seem to have a policy on it at all.”
Like many I spoke to, he has decided not to vote, feeling let down by all parties.
Undecided Simon Tonnicliffe, a 61-year-old Tesco delivery driver, said: “People are worried about the price of food going up. There’s more people using food banks than ever.”
Usually local elections are decided on more mundane issues than Partygate — like pot holes, dog fouling and bin collections.
Here, it is the stench from Walleys Quarry landfill site in Silverdale that mostly concerns people.
The borough council has served its owners a Statutory Nuisance Abatement Notice, while three local residents in Newcastle are standing in the election on a Stop The Stink ticket.
Poundland worker Wayne Jones, 38, who lives with his mum and dad, said: “I do worry about the parties during lockdown. Boris made the rules and he broke them. Keir’s event was a party too.
“They should think about the people who couldn’t be at their loved ones’ bedside when they died. That will stay in those people’s brains for ever.”
But it’s the stink from Walleys Quarry landfill which really riles him.
“I’ve lived with that bloody smell for nine years,” he added. “It makes kids ill.”
Labour councillor Mike Stubbs, 47, concedes that Partygate isn’t voters’ biggest worry on the doorstep.
The dad-of-one said: “It’s not been the primary concern. People are more concerned about the cost of living crisis and local issues.
“But it’s there — every second or third door there’s a mention of it. There’s trust issues with national politics.”
He said of Newcastle: “It’s a generic Red Wall seat — an old industrial town that has had to look for new employment opportunities.
“When the Red Wall fell it was people looking for change. They were made promises and nothing was delivered.”
Looking forward to tomorrow’s elections, he added: “The local authority has always been a barometer of national mood.
“It won’t be a landslide here — four or five seats either way.
“Now there’s been investment in the area. Labour is starting to rebuild but there’s a long way back.
“If Newcastle goes red again it will be a very significant message.”
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If tomorrow is a dark day for Mr Johnson, his backbenchers could come for the famed greased piglet with sharpened knives.
Yet our straw poll in Newcastle-under-Lyme suggests Partygate may not be quite the killer blow his enemies perceive.
