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Was the last general election the start of an enduring rewiring of British politics? To answer that, look first to Hartlepool, where voters will be deciding their next MP on Thursday. It’s a seat never before held by the Tories, and it’ll provide the first hint of whether the fall of the Red Wall in 2019 was merely a temporary, Brexit-driven hiccup for Labour.

So The Telegraph’s chief political correspondent, Christopher Hope jumps on a train to meet co-chair of the Conservative party Amanda Milling, to find out why she believes the opposition has taken the area for granted, whether a candidate from Yorkshire is truly the best person to take the seat, and why she’s confident the Downing Street refurbishment row hasn’t stretched beyond “the Westminster bubble”.

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