by Xinhua writer Gui Tao
BISHOP AUCKLAND, Britain, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Abandoned minefields, a high street littered with vacant shops, a population draining away, and an ambition to be revived, that's how the northern English township, nearly 420 km from London, epitomizes Britain's struggling Rust Belt.
Once a bustling market town well-known for the hunting ground for prestigious and powerful bishops, and home to booming railway and coal mining industries, Bishop Auckland has been degraded to a post-industrial township.
The story of Bishop Auckland's rise and decline continues.
Weeks in the run-up to Britain's Dec. 12 general election, dubbed as "the most important poll since the second World War", Bishop Auckland, along with the constituency where it is centered, is back in the limelight.
British media see it as a crucial barometer for the rest of the northeast England in a Brexi-dominated ballot that is expected to shape the future of Britain.
Regarded as a rock solid Labour bastion, the Bishop Auckland Constituency is now undecided amid the fluid politics, a split vote and calls for massive tactic voting.
Labour has represented this working class area at Westminster for all but four of the last 100 years.
"This fluid public opinion, mixed with the British electoral system makes the election harder to predict than many might think," Liberal Democrats candidate Ray Georgeson in the Bishop Auckland constituency told Xinhua, adding that the inclusion of a Brexit party candidate makes the seat a four-way marginal.
Like the rest of the country, Brexit stands as the most defining issue for the poll in Bishop Auckland.
"This is the Brexit election," Georgeson said. "Even though all other issues of proper concern will be debated, such as health, education and the climate emergency, until Brexit is dealt with, very little of this will see any real progress."
Most of the town's voters, asked by Xinhua on where they will place their crosses on ballot papers, said they have not yet made a final decision for the coming election. The town will obviously see the national election, the fourth in five years, as another chance to have its voice heard.
In the 2016 Brexit referendum, Bishop Auckland voted to leave the European Union with a majority of over 60 percent, reflecting the local economic woes and enduring angst.
Official statistics show the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Bishop Auckland is 45 percent higher than the national average.
The upcoming election, widely described as the de-facto second referendum, is expected to see Brexit cut through party lines.
A Bishop Auckland town resident who gave his name as James said he will switch from Labour to the Liberal Democratic Party which "has a much clearer stance on Brexit."
The Lib Dems, the minority party in the House of Commons, is fighting the election on a ticket that would see Britain staying in the EU.
For the Conservatives, winning the Bishop Auckland seat could clearly signal that the party is on course to win a majority in the House of Commons, which British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says is vital for him to fulfill his pledge to deliver Brexit.
Although the recently formed Brexit Party has pledged not to contest the 317 seats won by the Conservatives in 2017, many believe it will still split the Leave votes, and thus taking Conservative seats in Labour-held constituencies such as Bishop Auckland.
"I have seen first-hand how repeatedly voting for Labour has failed to bring any benefits to my wonderful home region," Nick Brown, the Brexit Party candidate for Bishop Auckland told Xinhua in an interview. "One of my pledges is to shift the focus of UK politics towards more direct and delegated democracy and away from representative democracy."
Brown, who has a Cambridge law degree and worked in the tech industry, said that he does not expect people to vote for their first choice in this "very-hard-to-predict" election, the first December poll in nearly 100 years.
"I am also expecting a low turnout, blamed firstly because election day is happening at this time of the year, and secondly people's disillusion with the Brexit referendum result which has not been implemented," he added.
There have been calls for massive tactical voting among Remainers to prevent a Conservative majority.
The anti-Brexit campaign Best for Britain suggests that if no tactical voting occurs, the Conservatives will win 364 seats while if Remain voters vote strategically, that will change the political make-up in the Commons.
"If 40 percent of pro-Remain voters use their vote tactically, the Conservatives would win 277 seats" and lose its majority in the 650-seat parliament, it said.
The campaign has called on voters to choose the Labour Party in the Bishop Auckland constituency. The prediction is that without a tactical vote the Conservative Party is projected to win the seat by over five percentage points.
Shaun Thomas, who works in a local shop, said he may follow the recommendation to vote tactically to stop Brexit, despite his disappointment with the Labour Party.
