Good points all. I would say the red wall is almost synonymous with the US rust belt. Some very similar issues mostly rooted in structural changes to the economy 30 years ago. Misunderstood and neglected since by all sides. If I was Starmer I would be doing some very in depth research about the red wall and what makes it tick (same as Biden should do with the Trump supporters in the US).
Labour has a lot of genuine northern voices (Nandy was a leadership contender so it's not surprising she gets wheeled out a lot) unlike the Tories who if they are northern tend to be 'landed' northern (I only knew Gove was a Scot from watching Spitting Image!).
Covid has thrown a total curveball into politics and people's perceptions of politics, and it will remain that way for the foreseeable future. It's the only real issue for now. Once it's over or in control, all bets are off and we will hopefully start to find a new political equilibrium. For instance, how will the Tories plans to level up go when they need to pay for Covid? They've got off to a bad start with the whole Manchester thing. How will Starmer adapt to leadership when Labour has to actually start formulating its policy platform? We still don't know what sort of Brexit we are getting and how that will impact. Luckily Labour has 4 more years to think about these things and how to address them and Starmer is an infinitely more capable pair of hands than Jezza was! There is also some ability in his shadow cabinet.
Of course, it may be that Starmer ends up being the Neil Kinnock, rooting out or assimilating the left, dealing with bigotry, and someone like Burnham comes back in a few years to be the Smith/Blair.