What Joe Biden win means for Boris Johnson’s ‘blue wall’ – The Yorkshire Post says
THERE is one very important lesson for Boris Johnson as he – and other world leaders – assess the significance of Joe Biden’s election triumph, and the contempt that Donald Trump has shown for democracy and which performs a great dishonour and disservice to America.
It is that so-called “blue wall” voters – whether in the north of England or the “rust belt” of America – do matter and that their loyalty will be short-lived if the political rhetoric by candidates on the campaign trail is not matched by leaders when in office.
This partly explains Mr Biden’s historic triumph and the return of the USA to a rules-based international order – his quiet dignity, and pragmatism over Covid-19, struck a chord with many of those who concluded that President Trump’s bombastic leadership would cause more harm than good if rewarded with a second term.
And this certainly resonates here almost a year after Mr Johnson won a decisive electoral mandate of his own by appealing to blue collar families across Yorkshire and the North who had shunned the Tories for a generation. Many are now questioning their wisdom – particularly in the wake of the Government’s mishandling of Covid in these parts.
Yet, while Mr Johnson finds himself on the back foot after investing so much political capital indulging relations with President Trump in spite of the latter’s impetuosity, inconsistency and incivility, he will find much to admire in the bi-partisan approach being pursued by President-elect Biden and the pioneering Kamala Harris, the Vice President-elect, as they try to wrest American and global politics.
Yet, while President-elect Biden’s family ties will favour Ireland and the EU over Britain when it comes to Brexit, the fact that both he and Mr Johnson owe their positions of power to “blue wall” voters provides common cause on which to conduct future business.