EXCLUSIVERachel Reeves says she is rebuilding Britain for Keir Starmer - but her constituency has turned into a crime-ridden hell hole where bouncers check customers for weapons and drugs before they are allowed into a pub
Disillusioned Labour voters in Rachel Reeves' Leeds constituency are all asking the same question after she was promoted to Chancellor - how can she sort out the country when she cannot even sort out this place.
Locals in the once proud working class community of Armley say the area has become a no go zone and the MP has done nothing for them in her 14 years in the seat.
Drinkers in the White Horse local pub on Armley Town Street say they have not seen Rachel Reeves in person since she was out canvassing for the 2019 General Election.
If she did visit the premises in the evening she would be subject to a full airport style security check by a bouncer using a metal detecting wand.
Women are also required to open their handbags for the weapons and drugs checks at the doorway before being allowed in.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves' constituents in Armely, Leeds are asking how she can sort out the country if she cannot even sort out the town
Locals say the area has become a no-go zone and that the MP has done nothing for them in her 14 years in office
Pensioners are afraid to have a pint at night because of rising crime and pubs have been forced to conduct security checks on patrons
Residents say they rarely saw Ms Reeves before and will see her face even less now she lives at Number 11 Downing Street
Ex paratrooper, Joe Mullen says he is afraid to walk down the streets at night despite being an ex member of the Armed Forces
Eye brows may be raised at the number of pensioners supping pints during the day time. But they say it is because they are frightened to be out after dark.
Ex paratrooper Joe Mullen, 73, said: 'I am ex Armed Forces and even I am scared to walk down the street at night.
'I have only seen Rachel Reeves once. She knocked on my door general election before last but I did not know who she was.
'I always voted Labour before but after speaking to her I switched to voting Conservative. My worry is that when Keir Starmer has had enough she will be the next PM.
'If that is the way the country is going I might as well vote Communist.'
Nodding in agreement, Ted Hirst, 72, retired Royal Mail postman and former Chieftain driver with the Royal Tank Regiment, said: 'This place used to be lovely. Now it is a s**t hole.
'We were amazed when Rachel Reeves became Chancellor. She has changed nothing around here while she was our MP so I don't know how she is going to rebuild the national economy.
'We did not see much of her before. I expect we will see even less of her now she is at 11 Downing Street.'
They recalled the area when it was a close knit community, its High Street packed with busy shops including butchers, bakers, and boutiques.
The local cake store was famous across Leeds and was the first to embrace diversity in wedding cake decorations including same sex couples.
The shop closed a few years ago after the business failed to find a buyer and is now a nail bar. Potential investors loved the business but not the location of the shop and its flat above.
Town Street is now dominated by second hand and charity shops including the recently revamped St George's Crypt.
Once a thriving shopping centre and close knit community, Armley is now dominated by second hand and charity shops
Retired Royal Mail postman Ted Hirst says what was a lovely place is now a 's**t hole'
Kebab shop owner Khalid Mahmood, 64. He says its tough running a business in the area and that there are burglaries every week
The 90-year-old award winning charity is open 365 days a year, providing everything for hot food and beds to the needy to donated furniture for those getting homes together.
The door of the kebab shop run by 64-year-old Khalid Mahmood for 20 years is held together with tape after being kicked in.
He shrugs off the damage, saying he got off lightly. He continued: 'There are burglaries every week around here.
'I am from Kashmir where no one looks after the poor and I am afraid it is getting like that around here. It is tough running a business around here.
'You should see some of the stuff that goes on in Armley. I am lucky to get off with just having a broken door.
'There are a lot of nice people around here - working class people that politicians are supposed to help. But there are a lot of alcohol and drugs problems here too and a lot of people who do not want to work.
'I have always been a Labour voted but now my kids do not want to vote for anyone.'
Outside Michael Anderson, 35, who only has one leg because of a crippling bone disease, lies slumped on the pavement of the community which has been his home for 25 years.
He said: 'It is rough around here. Kids fight with swords and knives. A group of them came at me with knives and I had to use my crutch to defend myself.
'The grabbed my crutch off me because I was using it to defend myself. There are stabbing all the time. Someone got stabbed the two lads the other week as they were getting out of a taxi outside Nisa.
'One of my pals was so depressed that he threw himself off the seventh floor of his tower block. He severed his spinal cord and only survived because his fall was broken by a canopy.
'Rachel Reeves has been MP here for 14 years and she has not done much. This is the second worst area of Leeds now and it needs sorting out.'
Ian Murphy, 76, a retired chemical process worker, said: 'No one has ever done anything for Armley including our MP. She has done nothing for us in 14 years.
'The MP does not live here. I think she once had an office in Bramley shopping centre above a beauticians and a dentist.
'I have lived here 25 years and seen some sights as it has gone downhill. I was stood here one day and this woman across the street took all her clothes off. She was drunk as a lord.'
Ian Murphy, 76, a retired chemical process worker, says that Ms Reeves had done nothing for her constituents in her 14 years representing the seat
A dilapidated brick building covered in graffiti in Armley, Leeds
Debbie Harrison, 62, a former cleaner, said: 'This used to be a lovely I safe area. Now people are frightened to go out at night.
'I can't believe Rachel Reeves is chancellor when she cannot even rebuild her own constituency. It is not a community any more. It is a no go area at night.
'You cannot even use a cash machine because it is just not safe. Only nine years ago you could still walk down Town Street and feel safe but you cannot now.'
Retired power station worker Paul Young, 76, said: 'We call them the night people. They are like zombies coming out at the shadows at you.
'My son has to go out at 4am to go to work and cannot even light up a cigarette without being surrounded by them begging for fags.'
A monument to the decay is the former medial centre in Theaker Lane just off town street which has been an abandoned ruin for more than a decade.
The building was subject to arson attack in 2018 which Ms Reeves described at the time as a 'wake up call' for Leeds City Council to properly secure the building.
She scored political points but six years later redevelopment schemes have come to nothing and the building is still a rambling burned out ruin daubed with graffiti.
