Why do 'left behind' communities matter politically?

- 122 constituencies have ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods.
- 31% of ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods are within the ‘red wall’ battleground.
- 64% of which were won by the Conservative Party for the first time in 2019.

A strong link exists between their community needs (poor social infrastructure, weak civic engagement, and bad connectivity) and Brexit, showing the vote to leave was driven by social factors AND economics.

Similarly, there's a strong correlation with high levels of community need and the parliamentary seats that saw a swing to the Conservatives in 2019 - suggesting that improving social infrastructure is a top political priority for these areas.

With 'left behind' areas suffering from a lack of social infrastructure (community hubs, cafes, libraries, pubs, youth centres, parks, etc) they have fewer mutual aid groups operating in their neighbourhoods.

So what do they want?

Places to meet was identified as the area missing out most from investment, closely followed by leisure and sports facilities and local jobs.

And what's the solution?

Answer: Creating powerful communities, who lead decisions about how money is spent in their areas.

Do we have a plan?

Yes we do: @LocalTrust @Localis must read new report which sets out the key lessons from history and abroad on community power and how we can put it into action here

https://bit.ly/32TwJ16