The need for speed

摘要

The statue of John Bright, a Victorian champion of free trade, outside Manchester's magnificent town hall suggests a city enthusiastic about the market. The well-groomed professionals taking lunch-breaks from the service-sector jobs that dominate what was the world's first industrial city are not obvious socialists either. Yet Manchester, like most of the urban north, has been enemy turf for the party of business in recent times. In 1987 the Conservatives had 39 mps in the densely populated areas around Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle (see map). They now have just five, and they have been relegated to third place in many seats.