This week the BBC published an interesting report into how different local council wards voted in last years referendum.
The figures show that Middlesbrough had the highest Leave-voting area (82.5%) in the country (Thorntree and Brambles Farm), and had only one ward voting to remain.
This has to be a sharp shock to the Labour Party, and to politicians as a whole.
Our Labour MPs, Labour MEPs, Labour Mayor, Labour PCC, Labour Council and the Labour candidate for the Tees Valley Mayor all publicly backed staying in the European Union - yet we all voted Leave... it begs the question, just who are they pretending to represent?
I would love to believe that Teesside voted leave because of my campaigning, or because every Teessider believes in a strong global Britain; but this is actually quite a sad story about people feeling underrepresented, forgotten about and left behind.
The local Labour Party need to wake up and see what's happening beneath their feet. People want representation that will fight for them and put their needs first - not just label them as racists, as Tom Blenkinsop recently did.
An optimist might say these figures would translate to a different outcome in Middlesbrough at the next election, however the realist in me says we've still got a long way to go...
Jacob Young (Conservative Candidate for Redcar, 2015)