Voters headed to a polling station in Portsmouth, a town along England’s south coast known for its naval base and historic dockyard, on Thursday morning to a warm welcome from poll workers.
Elderly couples walked hand-in-hand into the local church, which had been temporarily set up with ballot boxes, along with parents with children in prams and young adults jogging on their way to work.
One by one, they weighed in on the future of the nation in a vote that opinion polls suggested could end 14 years of Conservative-led government.
“I just want to see change,” said Sam Argha, 36, who was outside the polling station Thursday morning. “I really want to see us do something different.”
It also serves as a microcosm of the wider national challenge facing the ruling party: a long-held Conservative constituency held by a popular candidate now in danger of being lost, and a largely disillusioned electorate that has expressed disillusionment with its quality of life and the ,what many see as a lack of leadership.
The seat has long been held by Penny Mordaunt, a Tory MP whose prominent role at the coronation of King Charles III last year, when she carried a heavy ceremonial jewel-encrusted sword, drew international attention to her stability and humility.
She was first elected here in 2010, when the Conservatives were part of a coalition government with the Lib Dems, and her political future now looks uncertain. Ms Mordaunt, who is seen as a potential candidate for her party’s leadership, is widely accepted in Portsmouth and many of her supporters said they had no intention of heading in a new direction.
However, polls suggest Labor voters in the constituency could overcome Conservative support in Thursday’s vote.
The centrist Lib Dems – seen as the third most popular party here – and the hard-right Reform UK party could also take votes away from the Conservatives.
“My hopes are for a much more compassionate government from Friday,” said Grahame Milner, 62, who was walking downtown with his husband of three decades on Wednesday afternoon.
Many of the shops around the couple were empty or occupied. Graffiti marked the sides of closed department stores. There is nothing to attract people to the area apart from betting shops, charity shops and small vape shops, Mr Milner said.
He first came here to serve in the Navy – the city is home to the country’s largest naval base – and was deployed during the Falklands War of the 1980s as a chef on a troop ship. He was pushed out of the military because of his sexual orientation, he said, and later became deeply involved in union work after returning to civilian life. He had already voted by mail last week.
“The austerity program has been absolutely crippling for working class people,” Mr Milner said, pointing to the number of workers who rely on food banks just to get by. “This is not the Britain I served in the army for.”
Her husband, Carl Milner, 64, acknowledged there would be a difficult task ahead for whichever party came to power. However, he said of the Conservative government’s plan to reduce inequality in communities across Britain, “We’ve talked about ‘rising up’ for so long, but it’s only gotten worse.”
Concerns about the collapse of the National Health Service, a cost of living crisis that has left many struggling, debate over immigration and the fallout from Britain leaving Europe were on the minds of many locals.
They described a deeper decline in their fortunes and the fortunes of their city.
Others said they did not intend to vote at all, frustrated by parties and politicians across the spectrum who they see as out of touch.
