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Residents on 'Corbyn Road' fear Labour's general election wipeout may affect property prices

Corbyn Road in Dudley, West Midlands. (SWNS)
Corbyn Road in Dudley, West Midlands. (SWNS)

Residents on a street named Corbyn Road say they want it renamed after their local constituency swung to the Conservatives for the first time ever.

The road in Dudley, West Midlands, is part of the former Labour safe seat of Dudley North which dramatically changed hands after Thursday’s poll.

Now people living on Corbyn Road fear the road bearing his name may see property prices tumble as a result of being associated with “racism and failure”.

One resident said: “We’ve always known the name attracts attention and it didn’t matter as much when the town was Labour but now it’s associated with the worst Labour leader there has ever been.

Marion Smith, 73, is a resident of Corbyn Road. (SWNS)
Marion Smith, 73, is a resident of Corbyn Road. (SWNS)

“The name must go. When you think Corbyn you think of racism and failure. I don’t want the place I live to be linked with that.

“House prices in this area are already struggling, the last thing we need is potential buyers being put off by the street name.”

Retired electrician Tom Robertson, 66, added: “It used to amuse my grown-up children that I live on Corbyn Road but frankly it’s now more of an embarrassment.”

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He said he “doesn’t care” what the new name is, as long as it isn’t “after any politician because they’re all bloody awful”.

Writing on Facebook, user Jan Onley offered up “Unity Road” as a name which might bring people together.

But Marion Smith, 73, suggested a better option would be ‘Johnson Road after what happened yesterday’.

Former Labour stalwart Ian Austin represented Dudley North for 14 years until he dramatically quit in February over Mr Corbyn’s leadership and handling of the party’s antisemitism scandal.

He dealt another body-blow to his former leader just weeks before the election by urging voters to back Mr Johnson.

The seat had been the fourth-most marginal in the country, with Labour holding on with a slim majority of just 22 votes.

It finally turned blue for the first time last night with Mr Longhi being named its new MP with 23,134 votes – 11,533 more than Ms Dudley.

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