Runcorn by-election battle tests Labour nerves-OxBig News Network

In a quiet corner of Runcorn, a group of residents who’ve been fighting to bring a disused canal back to use have found themselves thrust into the centre of a political battle.

The Unlock Runcorn group have long wanted to reconnect the Bridgewater and Manchester Ship canals, restoring what was an important water route that linked Runcorn with both Manchester and Liverpool and played a key part in the town’s industrial boom.

The charity wants to reopen the canal as a regeneration project – and recently they’ve had a lot of attention from politicians, not least the parties vying for votes in the upcoming by-election.

“There are good places in Runcorn, there’s so much going on, and it sometimes gets overlooked which is a real shame,” says Stephen J Holloran, the group’s community engagement officer.

“I think what the by-election is really doing is shining a spotlight and causing a debate.”

The attention thrust on the Cheshire constituency of Runcorn and Helsby is a sign of the high stakes in this by-election, which was triggered by the resignation of the former Labour MP Mike Amesbury.

He was handed a 10-week prison term after punching a constituent in Frodsham, Cheshire. It was reduced to a suspended sentence after an appeal.

The constituency combines the industrial town of Runcorn, sitting on the banks of the River Mersey, with a more rural area stretching south towards Chester.

It’s a relatively new seat, formed by boundary changes ahead of last year’s general election, but Labour still won comfortably in an area that’s considered one of the party’s strongholds in the North West of England.

But Reform UK placed second in 2024 – and now they have the constituency firmly in their sights as they try to show their momentum isn’t limited to opinion polls.

The party’s set up a visible office in the middle of a shopping centre in Runcorn, emblazoned with branding, and is trying to tap into a sense of political disillusionment with other parties.

At the Heath Business Park – a hub for businesses that also has community facilities – Catherine Chadwick is at a weekly get together for the over-50s.

In her view, the town’s pensioners are among those who can feel overlooked.

“We fought the war and everything else and this country needs to start looking after their own people,” she said. “We want someone that will do something for Runcorn.

“More for the younger ones to do instead of getting into trouble. They need places to go. And more bobbies on the beat….and the NHS. Definitely the NHS needs fixing.”

Both national and local issues have come up in this campaign, from tolls on local bridges and the regeneration of the high street to health, housing, the cost of living and immigration – with a lot of focus on a local hotel that’s been used to house asylum seekers.

Anthony Stonebanks, who runs a café and events space at the Heath Business Park, cites illegal immigration as one of the issues on his mind – along with facilities for young people and a lack of funding in the area.

But his biggest concern is whether any party has the answers.

“I think working class people are sort of neglected, where it’s like we’re going to put all these things in place and they don’t see it through,” he said.

“Obviously certain areas around Runcorn are quite deprived. They look at these areas and say we’re going to do this and we’re going to do that…but they need to back it up.”

It’s a familiar refrain from those who feel elections can bring attention and promises, without always yielding results.

Outside the town of Runcorn, the constituency becomes more rural, and the political landscape changes too.

Before the seat was reconfigured, some of the villages sat in areas held by the Conservatives before 2017 and the party’s fighting this by-election with the hope of showing it can still command support.

On the top of Helsby Hill, members of the Helsby Running Club are limbering up for a cross-country run with a view of whole constituency spread below.

The club’s head coach, John Whitehead, points out local landmarks that epitomise his frustration, from a disused railway he says could improve connectivity to the community sports centre which is much-loved and well used, but struggles for funding.

“I think British politics feels broken at the moment and everyone’s sort of pulling in from big political parties and saying a lot of lip service, and I really don’t think a big political party can get to grips with local issues,” he says.

There are a total of 15 candidates vying for votes in Runcorn and Helsby on 1 May, with representatives from the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party among them.

When the results roll in it won’t just have an impact on the people who live in the area.

This is the first parliamentary by-election since Keir Starmer took power, and in a seat that had been considered safe for Labour the result will be an important measure of the party’s support after less than a year in government.

A bad result could set party nerves jangling.

Reform UK wants to show they can knock a brick out of Labour’s so-called “red wall”, with Nigel Farage keen to prove the party’s electoral credibility with a win in the North West of England.

The Conservatives are among those who’ll be watching closely to see how the insurgent party performs in an election which will be affected by local factors, but will also be seen as a measure of the broader political mood that could set the tone in Westminster.