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Many thought Redcar had made its last steel a year ago, but the blast furnace will now fire up again.

Just over twelve months ago, Redcar thought it was saying goodbye to its steel industry.

The blast furnace was shut down, and workers began to be laid off.

The anger in the town and in the wider area of Teesside was palpable.

It ended the political career of the town's Labour MP Vera Baird, and probably contributed to the party losing in nearby Stockton South too.

In fact, if you look at Labour's support in Teesside at the General Election, it fell markedly in almost every seat.

Twelve months on, and the .

The sale of the works to Thai company SSI is fantastic news for the community.

The firm will not just be keeping the existing 700 staff on, it will also be looking to recruit 800 new staff. Steel will be made in Redcar once more.

It is a shot in the arm for an area that must have wondered whether it had a future.

Ian Swales benefited from anger in Redcar after the steelworks closed.

So will the town's Liberal Democrat MP be able to bask in the blast furnace glow? He has certainly played his part.

Possibly, but Labour will be keen to point out that some of the groundwork for this week's deal was laid before last May.

And the Middlesbrough South MP has also been active since then.

But to give both MPs their due, they have not been wrangling about who to thank for the revival of Redcar's steel industry.

Instead they have agreed on who really deserves the credit for the reopening - the community who fought to keep it open.

And SSI's President Win Viriyaprapaikit said as much as he sealed the deal.

He said he was inspired to buy the works when he saw 5,000 people marching through Redcar to try and save the plant.

He added: "It is the Teesside people who have made this happen. Without them we would not be here so I would like to say thank you."

Of course sentiment can only take you so far and SSI have also made a hard-headed business decision, something which also reflects well on the local workforce.

But inevitably, politics will rear its head at some point.

When the deal was nearly done a week ago, there was talk that Nick Clegg might appear in Redcar on the crucial day.

That didn't happen, but I expect the Coalition to use it in the future as evidence of the support they have offered the region.

Of course, one person who can only look on from afar is Vera Baird.

I am sure she will share in Redcar's joy, but in the knowledge that she is one casualty of last year that won't be getting her job back.

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