General election road trip: Varied views in Tory stronghold of Shrewsbury

It is the birthplace of Charles Darwin. Its famous school gave us Michael Heseltine, Christopher Booker, Willie Rushton, Richard Ingrams and Paul Foot. Even Tony Blair’s father Leo once lived here.

Nobody could accuse Shrewsbury of being a place where people are short of ideas.

And it seems that despite being held by the Conservatives for the past 12 years, it is still a place where people have strong and varied opinions.

“Save Britain, Cull Tories,” says a poster on a boarded-up shop in Pride Hill, featuring a badger with a Union Jack painted over its face. A sentiment that is probably shared by Steve Foster.

“I want to keep the NHS, and I don’t want to crucify foxes,” says the 44-year-old electrician, who will shortly be moving to the Castlefields area of the town.

His concerns about the NHS are less to do with the ongoing row about a closing one of the county’s two accident and emergency units, and more to do with a wider perception of how it is being run.

“It’s a national thing, because the Government has been deliberately running it down to sell it off, but it’s not their’s to sell, we have financed it,” he says.

Steve says he is not sure whether Labour can win the election, even suggesting that the system could be rigged.

“It could be fixed, it seems they are all trying to make out Jeremy Corbyn has no support, yet from what I hear he has got quite a following.”

A man in a blue anorak, making his way down the hill towards the market, would appear to disagree.

“There is only one party that matters, and that is the Conservatives,” he says.

The man, who declines to be named, says he feels voters have little choice, with Labour under Mr Corbyn’s leadership unable to offer a serious alternative. He says: “I also don’t think the country is doing that badly at the moment. Labour is making all these promises, but where is it going to get the money from?”

“The only way it could do that would be to increase taxes, and I can’t see man y people voting for that.”

Down at the recently opened Wrekin Whiskies shop in Wyle Cop, Nigel Matthews surveys an impressive display of fine drinks. “I’m essentially conservative with a small ‘c’,” he says.

He will vote Tory on June 8, but has many doubts about the direction in which the country is heading. “What concerns me is that it is going to be a significant landslide,” says the 64-year-old, who lived in the US for six years.

He fears that a massive majority in parliament will lead to more extreme government, when what he would prefer to see was something more of a consensus.

“The five years we had of the Coalition, I think that worked quite well, both parties had to soften their stance a bit.

“In some respects I’m very much from the middle ground, and I would like to see the rejuvenation of the Liberal Democrats.”

“I was pretty much in favour of Tony Blair during his first four or five years, but when people are in power for too long, they tend to go a bit awry.

“At the moment we seem to have only one party that is fit to govern.”

Nigel says the big issues of concern for him are the rising cost of business rates, and the negotiations over Britain’s withdrawal from the EU.

“I think a lot of businesses are concerned that the bigger boys are getting a far fairer crack of the whip in Shrewsbury with the rates,” he says.

“Nationally, I’m rather disturbed we have had to go along with this Brexit, and I’m not at all happy about the belligerent approach that Theresa May has chosen to take.

“It would be far better to get all the countries to talk sensibly about how we are going to come to a deal that will benefit us all in this somewhat unfortunate situation.”

He says he has detected little interest among customers about the poll, saying they are more likely to talk about Donald Trump.

Across the road at Marianne Exclusive Garments, 51-year-old shop assistant Joanna Maples says she is still undecided about how she will vote.

Like Nigel, she says business rates are a real concern for many in the town.

“The small, independent businesses are what makes Shrewsbury, and Wyle Cop in particular, special,” she says.

“We get a lot of people from Chester and from further afield, they love this part of town, this is what we should be promoting.” She says the election is not a major talking point among people who come into the shop, although there is the odd person who talks about it.

“We have probably had two or three in who have talked about it,” she says.

“I would say the main issue they talk about is the NHS,” she says.

This will no doubt be music to the ears of Labour candidate Dr Laura Davies, a hospital doctor who is challenging Daniel Kawczynski for the second time in just over two years, and has pledged to make health the centre of her campaign. However, with Mr Kawczynski defending a majority of 9,565, and the national polls heavily in the Conservatives’ favour, Dr Davies knows she will have her work cut out.

In recent decades, Shrewsbury and Atcham has been something of a bellwether seat, generally reflecting the government of the day. From 1983 to 1997 it was held by Conservative Derek Conway, but went to Labour’s Paul Marsden during Tony Blair’s first landslide victory of 1997. However, shortly after retaining the seat for Labour in 2001, Mr Marsden defected to the Liberal Democrats, before returning to Labour just before the 2005 election. It was not enough to retain his seat, though, and he was one of a number of Labour MPs who lost their seat in 2005.

Over at the Hibiscus ladies’ clothing shop in Wyle Cop is 45-year-old Nere Yardley.

As a Spanish national, her biggest concern is the impact Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union will have, particularly with regard to residency.

“I don’t get a vote, but from my point of view, I’m thinking about what will happen with the Brexit,” she says.

“I’ve got children and I’ve been living in the UK more than 20 years. I have to look after the kids and the shop.” She adds that life is tough at the moment for small independent retailers, and that more needs to be done to get visitors into the town.

“We need to get more people into Shrewsbury, more tourists,” she says.

“I try to get British-made things into the shop, I think that is important. If we would get more tourists into the town, it will not just benefit me, but everyone.”

She says that when customers discuss the election, the main issues seem to be the health service and plans to move the swimming pool from its present location in Quarry Park.

Immigration is another issue which seems to be a priority among some people, although some are reluctant to be quoted.

A man sitting on a bench in Pride Hill says: “For me immigration is the main issue. “I think I will vote Labour, even though they are for letting everybody in, and the Conservatives are better on that. But overall, I think Labour are better than the Conservatives.”

As a card-carrying Labour Party member, 68-year-old Susan Ryan is in no doubt about how she will vote for, although even she has some doubts about the party leader. “Corbyn wouldn’t be my choice as leader, but he is our leader,” she says. “He is a man of principle.

“As a woman, when I had my children I had to work, there was no maternity leave, and if you wanted to go back to work after you had a baby you had to get another job,” she says.

“When my first husband died, his National Insurance contributions didn’t go to my pension. It was the Labour Party that changed all that.”