Crunch time approaching for Shropshire voters

Just under one in 10 taking part in a straw poll on shropshirestar.com said they were still undecided.

That figure is around half of the figure given for undecided voters nationally.

That isn't perhaps isn't surprising given that around a third of people have already voted in the Telford constituency.

The Star revealed this week that Telford has one of the highest proportion of postal votes in the country, all because it was once used as a test bed for postal voting.

But that figure of one in 10 undecided voters shouldn't be sniffed at. It could swing the fate of the main parties both locally and nationally.

If our unscientific poll was to be believed, there would be a 97 per cent turn-out, with only three per cent saying they don't intend to vote.

The reality, of course is that anything approaching 70 per cent come Thursday would be seen as encouraging. Traditionally, a high turnout is good news for the main challengers for Number 10. Time will tell.

Our online poll has encouraged a lively debate among readers about the merits of each party as election day gets near.

One reader, called Davey, said he was uncertain whether he should be led by local or national issues.

He said: "I'm torn this time between Red and Blue. I had a look at the "vote for policies" website and did their survey to see which party's policies matched my ideals. The results were a bit of a surprise, and I'd encourage everyone to spend 10 mins having a look at that website.

"My issue is that I like my current MP. I think he's great and his performance is significantly better than the other MP that covers bits of my town. Unfortunately, his party isn't one that I think capable of running the country at this time.

"The alternative being that I vote for the party that I think is best to lead the country. Unfortunately, their local candidate has a campaign that has absolutely no substance to it at all.

"So I really don't know what to do. Vote national, or vote local?"

Another reader, called Derp, added: "It is surprising to me how things are coming out just one week before the election. It's no wonder some of us are confused and undecided.

"For example, a few days ago, we discovered that the Conservatives' assertions about the growing economy is wrong.

We found out that growth is actually down to 0.3 per cent.

Conversely, I was shocked to discover that the Labour Party will repeal privatisation via The Health and Social Care Act 2012.

I've been asking the Labour party that question and I have had no reply.

I wonder how many other people thought Labour supported the privitisation of the NHS? I have to be honest and thought I did."

Another, called Eurealist, said it was time for the big parties to be given a jolt, adding: "Vote any party other than the big three as a protest or even because they offer something with which you agree,.

"Vote green, vote Respect, Plaid Cymru, SNP, anything other than the parties that got us into this mess. Until we stop voting for the Tories Labour and Lib dem nothing will ever change."