General election road trip: ‘Madam May’ likely to hold sway once again in Montgomeryshire

When business and civic leaders talk about attracting a wider range of independent retailers to the high street, it is probably businesses like that owned by Vanessa Cadwallader they have in mind.

Tucked away along an alley behind the town hall, Loveday antiques is the kind of shop that any town would be keen to have. A pack of dominoes bearing the crest of a famous brewery, an antique teddy bear, countless old pictures, vases and trinkets. It is the sort of place in which tourists more accustomed to bland out-of-town shopping centres will find themselves lost for hours.

Owner Vanessa Cadwallader is a lifelong Labour voter, and former party member, but she admits it is unlikely things will be going her way at next month's election.

The sprawling Montgomeryshire constituency, in which Welshpool is one of the major centres, holds the unique distinction of being the only seat in Wales which has never been held by Labour. And 50-year-old Vanessa does not seem hopeful that record will be broken on June 8.

"Unfortunately it looks like Madam May is going to get back in," she says with an air of irritated resignation.

"I was a member of the Labour Party since I was 18, but I don't know whether I will be voting Labour this time. I think Jeremy Corbyn has the right message, but he's the wrong messenger."

She adds that she is considering a tactical vote for the Liberal Democrats in a seat which has traditionally swung between the Tories and the Liberals. The seat has been held by Tory Glyn Davies since he defeated flamboyant Lib Dem Lembit Opik seven years ago, and if the polls are anything to go by, he will probably secure another term.

But while she is determined to vote against Mr Davies, Vanessa is surprisingly magnanimous when it comes to his record in office.

"Apart from the fact that he is a Tory, I have a lot of respect for him, he's done a great job for Welshpool," she says.

"Just because I am fairly red, it doesn't mean that I dislike him. I wouldn't vote for him though. If there's one less Tory at Westminster then that is a good thing."

Alexander Hardware in Broad Street is another characterful retailers which makes Welshpool feel vibrant and interesting. The shop, which sells just about everything you need for the home, is the type that would once have adorned pretty much every high street, but is something of a rarity these days.

Like Vanessa, owner Paul Alexander does not feel especially optimistic about the political landscape at the moment.

"I will probably vote Liberal Democrat," says the 47-year-old. "I'm not a Tory by any means, but I can't see them not winning.

"I wanted to remain in Europe, so it is a difficult time for me."

He says the NHS is probably his biggest concern.

"I know there isn't much money about, but they are cutting in all the wrong places. Education shouldn't face further cuts, either. I'm sure the wealthy could be taxed more."

Chatting to a friend outside NatWest bank is Tracey Hills, 50. She says has no interest in politics, and the election has totally passed her by.

"I don't think I will be voting," she says.

Taking a breather on a bench near the town hall, David Davies says he has been a Tory loyalist since the days of Margaret Thatcher.

The 65-year-old, from nearby Llangadfan, said .

"The Conservatives have been good to me over the years, they helped me to buy my house.

"I bought my council house under Mrs Thatcher, she was good for the working people."

Working hard on a sewing machine is 53-year-old Karen Rix, who runs the Funky Purple Goat haberdashery stall in the market hall. She says she will probably vote Conservative, and believes Mr Davies has done a good job over the past seven years.

"Unless he does something stupid, I will vote for who I normally vote for, Glyn Davies.

For floating voter Bill McAllister-Clements, the National Health Service and the Brexit negotiations will be the main considerations.

He firmly believes in the devolved government, which sees areas such as health controlled by the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff rather than Westminster, but says that Welshpool's location on the border leads to some anomalies.

"While Wales has its own NHS, for many people the nearest hospital is over the border in Shropshire, and it begs the question why they don't build something like that over here," he says.

He says the Brexit vote has opened up a whole can of worms which people did not envisage when they voted in the referendum.

"It has opened up the Gibraltar question, the Cyprus question, the Northern Ireland question, which nobody was informed about. The referendum was not a vote, it was an opinion."

Chatting to the staff in a jewellery shop in High Street is 59-year-old antique trader Gary Chase.

Going somewhat against the consensus, he believes the Conservatives will lose the election.

"I personally think Theresa has opened up the possibility of the people who are against leaving Europe to all vote against her," he says.

"I don't believe we will get a deal on leaving Europe for years."

He doubts whether Britain will ever leave the EU, and says Britain still has to get to grips with the crippling level of debt which is afflicting the economy.

"We are being painted this rosie picture of how well the economy, but debt as a percentage of GDP is running at around 90 per cent, which means as an economy we are technically almost bankrupt."

While it is hard not to see the Tories holding on to Montgomeryshire this time, Gary does raise an interesting point about galvanising the pro EU vote. While the area did vote to leave at last year's referendum, the result was not as overwhelming as in other parts of the region. And while Mr Davies had a healthy majority of 5,325 at the last election, it was a much tighter margin of 1,184 in 2010. In what will almost certainly be a two-horse race between the Tories and the Liberal Democrats, it would not be huge surprise to a bit of tactical voting going on.

So which way will Gary cast his vote?

"I won't," he says resolutely.