So the dismay expressed by Tory supporters in Spalding over the decision to cut short Boris Johnson’s prime ministership should raise alarm bells for his successors. If Johnson is looking for a country retreat after handing over the keys to Checkers, he’ll find an enthusiastic welcome here. Less so his parliamentary colleagues. “It’s been stabbed in the back,” says Steve Mason, owner of Masons Models, as he stands among Airfix kits and Warhammer figurines. “All politicians are liars, but Boris is the one who has been caught. Look at Keir Starmer – he should be punished like Boris.” Mason was one of many people at Spalding convinced by Brexit and credits Johnson for that and his approach to Ukraine. Mason says the Northern Ireland protocol should top the agenda, followed by the war in Ukraine, for Johnson’s successor. Who should he be? “I think Rishi Sunak will be prime minister and Sajid Javid … chancellor,” he says. But does Sunak want to be a leader? “All I will say is that Guy Fawkes had the right idea.” This enthusiasm for Brexit and cynicism about non-Boris Johnson politicians is easy to find among Tory voters in Spalding. Many of them feel taken for granted. According to John Bland, the chairman of Spalding And District Civic Society, the town has a lower priority for capital leveling than neighboring places such as Boston and Wisbech, but has been neglected for decades. One of the corner shops in Spalding catering for Eastern European workers picking fruit, flowers and vegetables on Fenland farms. Photo: Antonio Olmos/The Observer Case in point is the old Johnson Hospital, built in 1881 after Elizabeth and Mary Ann Johnson – no relation to the prime minister – inherited land and money in the town. Since 2010, however, it has fallen into disrepair, having been sold by the NHS for a pittance to an offshore company, whose identity was a mystery to local people until revealed in the Panama Papers. The owners seem to have forgotten about it, but it remains an important local landmark, for all the wrong reasons. “There’s a sense of long-term neglect,” says Bland, as we walk around Spalding. “Whatever the new direction of the Conservative Party, the concept of leveling and fairer funding [are] needed in South Holland”. He points out the multitude of empty shops, vape shops and betting shops, as well as convenience stores that cater to the Eastern European laborers picking fruit, flowers and vegetables on Fenland farms. “About 30% of England’s food comes from Spalding,” says Bland proudly. Across town, the River Welland offers the kind of scenic view that might encourage more people to visit. There are plans to revive the annual flower parade and in the town square a blue plaque commemorates Jimi Hendrix who stayed at the Red Lion Hotel when he played here at a precursor to modern rock festival, Barbeque 67, alongside Pink Floyd and Cream. However, although people can take a water taxi to Springfields shopping centre, it is harder to enjoy a pint by the river – Ye Olde White Horse, a charming thatched pub, is closed, while the former Bull and Monkie was fenced off by the council to prevent break-ins. Even if the leveling funding has yet to reach Spalding, there is plenty of praise for Johnson’s record. “He’s done a fantastic job with vaccinations,” said Rosemary Burton. “I can’t see who would take over from him who would do better.” He believes the difficulties of finding a doctor and paying the police are the most important priorities. Rishi Sunak would be ‘OK’. “He’s the best of them, I guess,” says Burton. Sajid Javid is “not bad”. “But that Thrush woman—I don’t like her.” Why; “I don’t know. But I must like them.” Rosemary Burton, enthusiastic supporter of Boris Johnson in Spalding, where in 2019 the Conservatives won 75.9% of the vote. Photo: Antonio Olmos/The Observer Gerald Pearl, enjoying an ice cream outside Sheddy’s, a fish and chip shop that has been a Spalding landmark for more than 100 years, is another Johnson fan. . “He’s the best prime minister we’ve had in a long time,” he says. “He did a very good job, he dealt with the problems of the country, the common market. No one else is worth voting for.” Terry Moore is an independent councilor in Pinchbeck but has voted Tory in the general election. “Poor old Boris,” he says. “He has the right ideas but is easily led. He listens too much to other people and doesn’t make his own decisions. I thought he would be a very decisive leader, but it didn’t work out that way.” Conservative members of South Holland District Council were reluctant to discuss the turmoil in Westminster, although the council’s leader, Lord Porter, told the Spalding Guardian that members had lost confidence that Johnson would avoid “another cock-up ‘, while Kevin Ginni, chairman of the South Holland and Deepings Conservative union, said he wanted to wait and see who would be the leader. Not every Conservative voter in Spalding is unhappy to see Johnson go. Chris Carter, a farmer, had seen Johnson as a “breath of fresh air” but said he was “absolutely fed up with lie after lie”. “Honesty is terribly important,” he said. “I’m disappointed, but I’m also relieved because I think we’re starting to look silly. “We need to become much friendlier to the great British public – there is a lot of antipathy towards the Conservative party. So whoever gets the poisoned grail has to make a lot of repairs. “I want to be able to look at my MP and say, ‘You’re doing a good job.’
