Chesterfield: Vying to take credit
On a sunny spring morning, Chesterfield emits an air of optimism beneath its famous crooked spire. Derelict factories litter the outskirts of the town, and the town suffers one of the highest rates of unemployment in the East Midlands. But there is ample evidence of regeneration with a flurry of building work underway. Chesterfield is reinventing itself, and both Labour and the Liberal Democrats are vying to take credit.
The town was for decades a traditional Labour seat, and was held by Tony Benn for 17 years. But before he stood down in 2001 his majority progressively waned. Building on their successes in council elections, the Lib Dems took Chesterfield with an eight per cent swing. This was the party’s first gain from Labour in a general election since 1974. Then in 2003, the Lib Dems also gained control of the borough council.
2001’s victor Paul Holmes is defending a majority of 2,586 and the former local sixth form head’s key challenger will be Labour’s Chesterfield-born Simon Rich – a parliamentary officer for a legal trade body. Conservative candidate Mark Kreling is from further afield, and works as a manager for an insurance company in London. The Conservatives won nine per cent and eight per cent of the vote in 1997 and 2001 respectively. Also standing in the constituency are Christopher Brady for UKIP and Ian Jerram for the English Democrats.
Pensions policy is important in Chesterfield, with its disproportionately large number of over 65s. The town also suffers a relatively high level of deprivation with many middle-aged men unemployed since the demise of the Derbyshire pits and closure of heavy engineering and industrial plants. More than quarter of Chesterfield’s housing is local authority controlled, and its management has become a hot election topic.
In his late forties, Sheffield-born Holmes presides over a rather tatty though industrious constituency office. Holmes is proud of his accessibility, claiming he is more often in his local offices than other East Midlands – Labour – MPs.
The incumbent repeatedly refers to the successes of the Lib Dem dominated borough council, on which he sits. He talks of the town diversifying and embracing light industry, creating high tech jobs. Holmes explains he has worked with EMDA to rejuvenate several derelict industrial sites.
“Chesterfield is transforming, 20 years ago it was fairly grim.”
The Lib Dem council has received public praise from local business people for displaying an unprecedented level of co-operation on planning issues, Holmes says. And these commendations are boosting the profile of the Lib Dems in other parts of the East Midlands, he adds: “You do see that ripple effect because of the press coverage.”
The need for regeneration in Chesterfield is also clear to Labour’s Rich, who was forced to leave his hometown to find work. In his early thirties, Rich has already proven his political mettle, as the youngest ever deputy leader of Nottingham’s Broxtowe Borough Council.
But Rich cites Labour’s national policies as the driving force behind Chesterfield’s recovery, explaining that the New Deal has brought thousands of jobs to the town.
East Midlands Labour MPs are making things happen, Rich says: “They are building a new junction on the M1, and it’s being named after Dennis Skinner because he’s gone to so much trouble to get it.
“Junction 29A will bring in thousands of jobs, exactly what the people who’ve lost their jobs in the manufacturing industry need.”
A Labour victory in Chesterfield would strengthen the voice of North Derbyshire at Westminster, with “three Labour MPs singing from the same song sheet”, he says.
For the Tories, Kreling has no doubt that the M1 junction would be useful for Chesterfield’s economy. But he warns of the need to be “entirely sensitive” about the route through green field areas, speaking from experience as cabinet member for traffic on Richmond council.
Unconvinced by both Lib Dem and Labour claims to the credit for Chesterfield’s renaissance, Kreling argues the shift is part of an inevitable national trend.
“It would be incredibly surprising if, after the old industries of Chesterfield have gone, that new industries hadn’t come into replace them. It’s a normal part of a country’s development and should be seen in that light.”
Along with regeneration efforts, pensions policy is shaping up to be a key campaigning issue in Chesterfield. As pensions spokesman for the Lib Dems, Holmes takes credit – with a rare smile – for the popularity of his party amongst older voters.
He reports that his older constituents feel Labour has offered “lots of bits and pieces”, which amount to little. To capitalise on this he has written to all pensioners in the constituency, who are generally poor, he says.
“You’ve got a lot of pensioners who are ex-miners, ex-engineers – not the sort of people who tend to have good affluent private or occupational pensions.”
Rich has a different story to tell. He says over 65s are doing well under Labour, but remember living in poverty not long ago.
“If you put everything together that Labour’s given pensioners, the increase from 1997 is much more than a rise with earnings would be.”
These older and less affluent voters in Chesterfield are likely to be living in local authority accommodation. Perhaps mindful of this, both Labour and Lib Dem candidates repeatedly mention their council house upbringing.
While stressing he is not troubled by the principle of right to buy, Holmes objects that the money generated cannot go back into building new houses. This is a big problem given Chesterfield’s above average elderly population, he remarks.
“We’ve got pensioners living in council three bedroom family houses, the kids have grown up and gone, they want to move into an old folk’s bungalow but the council can’t build them. “
Holmes blames the ODPM for preventing housing associations from gaining planning permission to build on council land: “This is one of the stupid things about running everything from London.”
Rich agrees that depletion of the housing stock is a problem with right to buy. But he is keener to defend himself against what he sees as Holmes’ accusations that Labour wants to sell off their council houses. He in turn accuses the Lib Dems of pushing people down this very route.
He says Labour is moving to address these concerns ahead of this summer’s consultation on who the tenants want as their landlord, explaining John Prescott has given assurances that Chesterfield does not have to sell off its council houses.
“We’re saying to people, when they have a ballot, they must vote to keep the status quo.”
But here there is a stark contrast with Holmes’ take on the compulsory ballots: “The Labour government are saying you can go for housing association or PFI landlord, and the Government will then make a certain amount of debt write off, grants, and borrowing permission so you can improve your estates and build new ones.
“If you vote to stay with the council you don’t get any of that money.”
Holmes vehemently criticises claims that this is democratic choice, and slams the local Labour Party for having the “brass cheek to try and say it’s our policy when it’s their Government.”
Kreling believes the spat is evidence of Labour “trying to micro manage the country”. However he adds that it is “not necessarily a good thing that the council should be in control of the housing stock.”
What is needed, he says, is a “properly balanced debate, not tinged by party politics.”
The maintenance of Chesterfield’s housing stoc
