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In a proud and troubled UK town, voters wonder whether their election choice will make a difference
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People walk past some shuttered and closed shops in Hartlepool northeast England, Saturday, June 29, 2024. As British voters prepare to choose a new government on Thursday, Hartlepool’s statistics still tell a sobering story. Compared the country as a whole, it has higher unemployment, lower pay, shorter life expectancy, more drug deaths and worse crime rates. - photo by AP Photo/Scott Heppell
HARTLEPOOL, England (AP) — A lot of politicians have promised change to voters in Hartlepool, a wind-whipped port town in northeast England. For decades, Labour Party representatives said they would fight for working people, even as well-paid industrial jobs disappeared. Later, Conservatives under then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to bring new money and opportunities on the back of Brexit.