In these still largely prosperous rural heartlands, filthy water has become a surprisingly powerful symbol of national decline, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
In these still largely prosperous rural heartlands, filthy water has become a surprisingly powerful symbol of national declineaura Reineke has been a mermaid for seven years now. Or more precisely, she’s a member of Henley Mermaids, the name she and a few friends from her open-water swimming club gave to the WhatsApp group they created for arranging river dips.
When the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, launched his campaign by falling off a paddleboard into Windermere, he was trying to dramatise an unexpected wedge issue at this election: clean water. His party is targeting a ribbon of ostensibly safe Tory seats stretching west along the Thames, from Maidenhead to Boris Johnson’s old seat of Henley and Thame via commuter belt Didcot and Wantage to David Cameron’s old Witney seat, now redrawn on new boundaries.
‘Waitrose woman’ – the stereotypical affluent voter the Lib Dems are targeting across the home counties – has been profoundly unimpressed by shabby conduct during Partygate, by incompetence and infighting, by rising taxes and bills with precious little to show in return . The Tories lost control of their last remaining Oxfordshire district council last year, and this week’sforecast all four of these riverside seats turning a scarcely conceivable yellow.
“There are so many Tories here who say, ‘I’ve voted Tory for ever and I’m not doing it this time,’” says Maynard, who lists what he hears on the doorstep: worries about the cost of living, inability to get a dentist, schools and filthy rivers. “Sewage is the big one. People are just like, ‘How can this be happening?’ I think it does speak to appalling government management and regulation in the longer term.
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