General election 2024: The view from Downing Street... in Ashfield

Ashfield had its fair share of political drama before this election campaign even began.

In March, then Ashfield MP Lee Anderson defected from the Conservative Party and joined Reform UK.

He had been Deputy Chair of the Tory Party, but resigned from that role over the Rwanda Plan, which he wanted to be stricter.

Mr Anderson chose not to hold a by-election when he changed Party.

Little did he know that his constituents would be going to the polls so soon in the General Election.

Before he won the seat in 2019, Ashfield had been a Red Wall stronghold, voting Labour from 1979, for a 40-year streak.

Now, Labour wants it back, but Reform UK will be desperate to maintain their first seat in the House of Commons.

With that in mind, I went to Downing Street. Not the one in London, but the one in Sutton-in-Ashfield, to talk to voters.

First, I met Dan, while he got his signature short back-and-sides.

He told me he's already decided which side he'll pick on July 4. He said: "Keir Starmer - I think we should vote for Labour again round here."

Down the road, Rezgar Naby runs Sutton Tyres and Auto Centre. Most Parties are launching their manifestos this week - but Rezgar worries they'll put the brakes on as soon as the campaign is over.

"Before they come in power they advertise, they manifest, they say 'we're going to create jobs, we're going to do this for the NHS', but once they come in power they grab the power and that's it."

Throughout the day, we spoke to a number of people to try and get some sense of who they might vote for.

Lee Anderson's name came up more than once - and the odd person mentioned Labour or the Tories.

Of course, that's just the handful of people we came across - it's in no way representative of the whole constituency.

But the sentiment we came across more than any other? Skepticism that any politicians would change things.

Rebecca Moore lives at Number 10 Downing Street - but that's as close as she comes to politics.

"I'm not very political," she told me. "Older people are more into it, but if you talk to my mates of my age they're not really bothered - they just don't want to get into it."

My final stop is Mr John's Salon, where John Rushton has been cutting and styling hair for 50 years - a far longer lifespan than most politicians.

He tells me the three biggest issues in Ashfield are "the cost of living, the NHS and the state of the roads."

While many people I met were pessimistic about Ashfield's future - and how much politicians really care about the constituency - John was full of optimism.

He feels lucky to live in the UK and Ashfield in particular, and tells me "we don't realise how lucky we are."

Not all the voters I spoke to felt the same. They'll get their chance to put that across to politicians on July 4.

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