Christabel Cooper

christabelcoops.bsky.social

12 October 2026 08:42

The result is an endorsement of a positive strategy which avoided directly attacking the Greens, as @thinklabour.bsky.social recommended in our recent report on the Green threat. We found that Green considerers saw attacks on the Greens as like "kicking a puppy". thinklabour.co.uk/thinking/pai...

Christabel Cooper

christabelcoops.bsky.social

12 October 2026 08:42

Thoughts on Holborn & St P: Not ideal Green territory. May's locals were a Labour-Green toss-up here, so with Labour's position improving under Burnham, a fairly comfortable hold was to be expected. But it means that in the places where the Greens actually beat Labour in May, they remain a threat.

Dan Mead

danmead.bsky.social

09 October 2026 12:50

What enabled all of this to happen: 1) A new source of labour demand from Luxembourg 2) Transport connectivity - People in France had to be able to get to these jobs. Fortunately, in 1981, a new motorway was built between France and Luxembourg City, and today 50% of commuters use it every day

Dan Mead

danmead.bsky.social

09 October 2026 12:50

The paper also shows that economic revitalisation impacted politics in these areas too. Areas closer to Luxembourg saw a much smaller vote share for the far right National Rally party, and much greater support for EU integration

Dan Mead

danmead.bsky.social

09 October 2026 12:50

Who benefitted from this? Local people. The vast majority of people who took new better paid jobs in Luxembourg were born in the French "rust belt". People of all educational backgrounds. It wasn't just graduates getting new jobs but also school leavers.