‘An unjust transition’? Teesside locals divided over net zero after deindustrialisation

In the third in a series, the Guardian hears how Reform UK is targeting voters over green policies - which business says are bringing new jobs to the area

• It breaks my heart': how a refinery closure is hitting jobs and politics

• They feel betrayed': how Reform UK is targeting votes in Britain's manufacturing heartlands

We're basically going through a deindustrialisation of the country at the moment and I think we're losing a lot of jobs," says John Mac, over a pot of tea in a bustling Caffe Nero in the centre of Stockton-on-Tees.

The local candidate for Reform UK worked for years at the Billingham plant of Imperial Chemical Industries's (ICI), before taking voluntary redundancy in the 1990s.