What the Red Wall really is. But why it’s also a mindset – not just geography

The term is used to understand the views of people living in traditional Labour heartlands. But it’s more complicated than that.

Interview. Therese Coffey – “An element of a kinder politics is not calling other people bigots because you don’t agree with them.”

Here’s her take on Universal Credit, science, Liverpool, same-sex marriage – and her department. “Big thanks to the Jabs Army, we are the Jobs Army.”

Jenrick, King of Liverpool?

Max Caller, the inspector who brought change to Tower Hamlets, has been sent in to the city. The Government could take control.

Dean Godson: It’s easier for the right to move left on economics than for the left to move right on culture. That’s a plus for Johnson.

The sixth piece in a ConHome series this week on the Prime Minister’s Reset Moment – and what should follow from it.

Iain Dale: Stop this utter selfishness and pathetic whinging about not having a normal Christmas to look forward to

Plus: After the kidnapping of this Christian girl, we should cut off aid to Pakistan. And: Muslims must face up the fact that terror is claimed in their name.

King of the North?

Rob Stark meets a bloody end in Game of Thrones. But he won every battle he fought first – and the Greater Manchester Mayor is following his example.

The Government is losing what control over the politics of the virus it has left

Johnson is being squeezed between dissenting local authorities, an increasingly divided Cabinet – and fundamental problems with test and trace.

Neil O’Brien: Introducing the new Levelling Up Taskforce – and its first report on how we can measure progress

So how do we get more good, high-paying jobs into poorer areas? One specific opportunity relevant in a lot of Red Wall seats is advanced manufacturing.

Sunder Katwala: Race and age. To older Britons, the pace of progress seems swift. To younger ones, frustratingly slow.

The framing of “facts versus feelings” won’t work for the liberal right on race any better than it has for the liberal left on immigration.

The shake-up that the Government needs to rescue education for a generation of children

Johnson has fewer than three months in which to move public opinion – the key to getting schools moving again.

Selections. Five more seats and the first ‘team seats’ open for applications.

Bath, Bishop Auckland, Bristol North West, Peterborough, and Wirral West are seeking candidates, as are several northern cities.

Stephen Purvis: A five point plan for a Blue North of England

I strongly believe that the region is poised at one of the most exciting and opportunity-rich junctures of its post-modern history.

Andrew Kennedy: The urban and northern challenge for our new Party Chairman, Patrick McLoughlin

If we are to be a truly national Party, we must have in place a structure which enables us to hear, absorb and reflect the views of the entire United Kingdom.

Simon Parker: Brexit wasn’t just about control. It was about people being left behind by the London elite

The focus on leaving the EU needs to be balanced by a powerful new Department for Growth, with a mandate to devolve power and drive up regional prosperity.

Liverpool, the Conservatives – and a last call for Heseltine

The challenge to a Party that holds not a single seat in Merseyside.