Elections: a tale of two Sussex streets

The Drive

The last of the much-anticipated TV debates was screened on the BBC on Thursday – but voters living in the key Hove marginal were not being swayed by Ed’s efforts or Nigel’s notions.

In fact, residents in The Drive told The Argus they were not interested in another night of political point scoring and chose to turn off or not even tune in at all.

Anthony Thompson, 65, pictured below, was not convinced by the leaders’ performance in the debate.

He said: “I thought Nigel Farage was dreadful to scream at the audience.

“The one thing you don’t do if you want their vote is scream at the audience.

“Poor old Ed Miliband seems to say the same thing all the time and Natalie Bennett doesn’t seem to know what she’s doing. I got so annoyed with it, I turned it off and put on a DVD of Night at the Museum 3.”

Mike Lamb, 76, below said: “I didn’t bother watching the debate.

“I’m not interested in the rest of them; I’m going to vote Conservative – I think they have done a good job.

“Labour messed up last time, it was a complete farce and I don’t trust them. To write that letter saying there’s no money left, I think that’s utterly childish; it’s like what a school kid would do.”

Jenny Bouston, 34, pictured below, said: “I didn’t watch the debate, no. I watched the first one and I did think it was interesting but I don’t think it helped me decide to vote one way or the other so that’s why I didn’t watch on Thursday night.”

Last week also saw the main parties all launching their election manifestoes with the Conservatives proposing to extend right-to-buy to housing association properties, Labour looking to raise the minimum wage to £8 an hour by October 2019, the Liberal Democrats creating a zero carbon Britain by 2050, UKIP scrapping HS2 and the Green Party creating one million “quality and stable” Living Wage jobs.

The parties see these pledges as key to convincing voters but did they have much impact on Hove residents?

Mr Thompson said: “Manifestoes seem to be the same stuff they promised five years ago.

“They think the public is stupid.”

Mr Lamb said: “I go with my gut when voting, not with the manifestoes. They make lots of promises that never really materialise.

“We get a load of leaflets stuffed through our door but I don’t take any notice of them – it’s all guff.”

Mrs Bouston said: “I read the manifestoes last time round but they didn’t help and I wouldn’t dream of doing that again this time around.

“I did notice the Conservative’s housing association plans. If I could believe that they would compel local authorities to build social housing I might be convinced but I can’t believe that will happen.

“Housing is a big thing for me; I’m a private renter and I hate it and there is very little prospect of me getting on to the property ladder, so if anything that has hardened my support for Labour.”

So after a big week in politics, what are our voters now thinking about where their vote will go come May 7?

Mr Thompson said: “I have made up my mind. I went to an event in the Portslade scout hut with Peter Kyle and Eddie Izzard and I was very impressed.”

Mrs Bouston said: “I’m inclined to vote Labour.

“I don’t think there’s anything the Tories could say or do that would change my vote; it would be more what Labour does.

“My main reservation is about Ed Balls being Chancellor – that does really worry me. So hearing or seeing too much of Ed Balls would really wind me up.

“It’s more of a personal thing; there’s just something I don’t trust about him. Often what he comes across as saying is just a lot of bluster, where as George Osborne seems to be really competent.”

Dyke Road

WITH less than three weeks to go, it is getting perilously close to making your mind up time for the General Election – something Dyke Road residents are not quite ready for.

In the key marginal of Brighton Pavilion, The Argus found plenty of voters waiting to be convinced .

However, the launch of the manifestoes and the final TV debate have helped to shape and harden some voters’ convictions.

Miranda Palmer, 37, pictured above, said: “I think more strongly towards Labour than I was last week.

“I’m comfortable with their policies and uncomfortable with the Conservative policies; in particular I’m not in favour of extending right-to-buy.

“I back the mansion tax and I back them reducing tuition fees.

“The only thing is I think they have been a bit woolly on what they are cutting and I hope they will put more money into the NHS.”

While David Cameron stayed away from the last election debate, and Nick Clegg may or may not have been excluded, Thursday night was the last chance for the five other party leaders to grab the public’s attention.

But was anyone in Brighton Pavilion interested in what they had to say?

Mrs Palmer said: “I watched the debate, about half of it. I think Ed Miliband is coming across stronger and stronger and I think it was a mistake for David Cameron to not be there, it just allowed Ed to seem like the boss.

“I thought he didn’t seem as confident with Jeremy Paxman; I don’t know whether it was inexperience or whether he’s more comfortable in debates, but he’s been coming across better each time.”

For Michael Thorold, 62, below, the format of the election debates, with up to seven politicians all vying for the spotlight and desperately trying avoiding the pitfalls, has been off-putting.

He said: “I didn’t watch the debate; there was something else I wanted to watch on the TV.

“I think with all of them going at each other in that format, it’s difficult for anybody to stand out and convince anybody.”

This week also saw the main parties publish their manifestoes outlining in detail what they would do if they were in sole charge come the beginning of May.

But with 86 pages of the Labour manifesto, 84 pages written by the Conservatives and the Green Party, a whopping 158 page tome by the Liberal Democrats and a relatively pithy 76-page manifesto by Ukip, are any of our floating voters scouring through these documents to find out each party’s figures for revenues generated from the abolition of the upper National Insurance threshold by 2019 or plans to reintroduce the intermediate tier for GCSE Mathematics?

Mr Thorold said: “I’m certainly not going to read through all the manifestoes.

“We get leaflets through our doors and the Ukip and the Conservative ones have been going straight in the bin.

“Those that I am a bit more interested in, the Labour and the Greens, I do read.”

So after a big week of campaigning, do Brighton Pavilion voters know which way they will vote come May 7?

Ramsay Midhad, 37, said: “I can’t make my mind up; I have to see who I think is right to win.

“I will have to sit down and watch from now until the election to make up my mind. At the moment, I’m thinking of giving the Conservatives another go because even though its been a very hard time, I think they have done well.”

Mr Thorold said he also remains a floating voter that all parties are desperate to reach before May 7.

He said: “I think it will be have to be on a local or national level, something really important from one of the two parties [Greens or Labour] that will eventually sway my mind one way or the other.”

Read The Argus for the best election coverage

The Argus will have the most exhaustive, informative and exciting reporting on the battle for the South Coast.

We intend to give our newspaper readers and online users up-to-the-minute news and views as the general election hots up. The coverage will include: l Detailed analysis of all 16 constituencies in our area. The runners and riders and the big issues on the doorsteps.

l Political expert Professor Ivor Gaber from the University of Sussex will be on hand for in-depth analysis.

l We will also have reporters at every count on the big night, filing up-to-the-minute news and, of course, the all-important results. The Argus will be the only place for the definitive story of what happened and why.

How to get tickets to our next hustings event

THIS Thursday we will hold our Brighton and Hove City Council hustings.

Representatives from all the major parties will take your questions from 7pm at the Thistle Hotel, Brighton.

The Conservatives will be represented by Geoffrey Theobald, Warren Morgan for Labour, for the Liberal Democrats Jeremy Gale and Patricia Mountain for Ukip.

The Greens will also be represented, although they have yet to announce who will take to the stage.

Argus columnist and professor of journalism at University of Sussex Ivor Gaber will host.

Tickets, which are free, are still available for the event.

Go to theargus.co.uk/ debate2015