General election 2019: Dudley North on a knife edge in Corbyn Road

Around 10 minutes outside of the town centre, the residential road is lined on both sides with houses, with people going about their daily business seemingly unphased by the pivotal role they could play in the upcoming general election.

Traditionally a Labour constituency, the area voted strongly to leave in the 2016 EU referendum, with 67 per cent of voters backing an exit from the European Union.

And in recent years the pendulum seems to have been swinging away from Labour, with former MP Ian Austin holding the seat by just 22 votes back in 2017.

Mr Austin has since left the Labour party and urged people to vote Conservative, leaving a four-way race for the seat between Labour, the Conservatives, the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats.

So what do the people of Corbyn Road make of the upcoming election? The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) visited the street to find out.

“I do know which way I shall be voting,” says Pamela Smith, on a day off from her job in health and social care.

“The important issues to me are health and social care for the elderly, the NHS, the homeless crisis and getting Brexit done.

“I mean Corbyn’s got these good ideas, but where’s the money coming from? I used to be a Labour voter, and they keep coming up with these good ideas. I mean, this one about free broadband for everyone, that’s a great policy. But how will they pay for it?

“I work in health and social care, and there are a few issues I’ve got from that. But I think I’m still sticking with Boris Johnson and the Conservatives.”

For Pamela, the most important issue at the upcoming election is Brexit, a view shared by many in the area.

And this includes retiree Pam Hughes, who says she would be voting Conservative now that Ian Austin had stepped down from his position.

“So many millions of people voted for out, and out means out as far as I’m concerned. And three years or more of messing about with it is absolutely ridiculous.

“I always voted for Ian Austin – he was a darn good bloke. He was the perfect man for this area, and he went along with the views of people around us. And I would have voted for him, but I would have been voting for the man.

“But with Ian resigning, and he’s said we should vote for Boris. So with respect to him that’s what I’ll be doing.”

One resident of Corbyn Road who’s still not made her mind up on which way to vote is pensioner May Palmer Barnes, who feels that no one represents her views or those of her generation.

And she says that, while she will consider voting Labour, she believes that the whole political discourse needs to change in this country.

“Because I’m a person of a certain age, I feel like our health system has gone to pot,” she said.

“Look how long you’ve got to wait to see a doctor, look how long you’ve got to wait to see a consultant. And it’s because we’re so short of staff, we’re so short of medical people.

“It’s just not what it should be, and there doesn’t seem to be anything being done. A person of my age has seen too much change, and it’s just not getting better. I just don’t know what to make of it. I don’t know whether we are being told the whole truth of what’s going on.

“I’ve got no idea who I’ll be voting for, because I don’t know if there’s anyone I can put my trust in. I haven’t got much faith in any of the main parties – I don’t think they live on this planet. They go round and pretend to kiss babies and bake a bloody cake, but they don’t live how we live. I can’t afford to put my heating on – I’ve got a hot water bottle and one of those throw over blankets.”

The issue of trust has been pivotal in this election campaign, with both Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson facing questions about their character throughout.

Russell Lamb says he is a traditional Conservative voter, adding that he will most likely back the party again in this election campaign.

However, on the issue of trust, he says that he feels Jeremy Corbyn is far more likely to stick to his promises than Boris Johnson.

“I’ve always voted Conservative, and I probably will this time. I don’t think I could vote Labour, because it’s a blast from the past isn’t it? I don’t know where all this money is coming from, in relation to how much they want to spend.

“I’d love to believe in everything the Labour Party say they’re going to do, because really, coming from where I come from, I should be a Labour voter. Because they look after people like us more than the Conservative Party do.

“I don’t particularly like Boris Johnson – I think that any manifesto that comes out should be a legally binding document, and they should have to do whatever they say they’re going to do in that manifesto. I trust Jeremy Corbyn to do what he says he’s going to do more than Boris Johnson, I just feel like it’s unrealistic.

“I think the reason Boris Johnson is doing so well at the moment is because of Brexit, and I don’t think that people realise that this is just the first step, and there’s gonna be years and years of wrangling after this.

“Because I did vote to leave, and I don’t think there should be another referendum, but I just think it’s all such a mess. I believe that we should never have been given the vote in the first place, because I don’t think a lot of us understood.

“I don’t even think now that I still understand 100 per cent what’s gonna happen. It was just that knee-jerk reaction when you voted wasn’t it? I probably voted for all the wrong reason, and if there was another vote today I don’t even think I would vote.”