Blakenall Heath, Walsall
The writing is almost on the wall in Blakenall Heath. Only the K and N of Blakenall remain on the sign that marks the entrance to this small suburb of Walsall in the West Midlands. “It’s about right,” says one local man with a hearty laugh. “Now it says: ‘Welcome to ***k*n Heath.’”
The only time this part of the world attracts national attention outside of the electoral cycle is when it receives the accolades no town wants. “‘Hell hole’ Walsall named in top 50 worst places to live in England,” reported the Birmingham Mail in January. Walsall has the worst community spirit of anywhere in the country, according to a 2016 poll. Giles Fraser once ministered to the folk of Blakenall Heath and wrote afterwards that the area “seethed with the anger of the unheard”.
When I visit, a sense of despair hangs in the air. The ground, meanwhile, is littered with the detritus of an area that has lost the respect of its own residents: fly-tipped waste, general litter and dog mess.
Blakenall abandoned its traditional loyalty to Labour, in the local elections this month, electing a Tory councillor for the first time in at least half a century (certainly as far back as records at The Elections Centre go). It was a remarkable victory for a party at a low ebb nationally, in one of the poorest areas of Britain during the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. Blakenall is the most deprived ward in Walsall, which is itself within the most deprived 10% of districts in the country. On average, its residents are more likely to be economically inactive, be victims of crime and have no formal qualifications.
The recent electoral coup was either a vote of confidence in the local Tories, who actually managed to increase their majority on Walsall Council, or a last-resort howl of disaffection from voters sick at being taken for granted. Not that most here cared either way. After walking around its centre for 90 minutes, I can only find two people who voted. The rest look almost taken aback to be asked the question. Turnout was 22%.
“I never vote,” says a retired lorry driver in the local butcher’s. “It doesn’t matter who you vote for.” A 13-year-old is asked by the shopkeeper: “You understand voting? You know, when you’re 18 and you get the vote?” The boy gives a blank expression and walks off with his sausages.
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