Grimsby voters have their say ahead of the 2024 general election

Grimsby – once part of Labour's 'red wall' – went Conservative for the first time in decades in the 2019 election. BBC News went to test the political waters in the north-east Lincolnshire town ahead of the election 4th of July general elections.

Red bricks, some still in their blue packaging, are stacked in a corner of Howarth Timber & Building Supplies.

As merchants scour the aisles for materials, I ask them to rate the election.

For decades, this north-east Lincolnshire town was part of the seemingly impenetrable “Red Wall” – Labor strongholds in the largely working-class north.

However, thanks to a deft wrecking ball from Boris Johnson, it was reduced to rubble in the 2019 vote.

The battle in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, a newly formed constituency, will be fiercely fought, with Labor's Melanie Onn – who lost her seat to Conservative Lia Nici – keen to play a role in the rebuild.

David Arnold, 38, married with three children, says he hasn't yet decided who will deserve his vote.

“I’m open,” he said, referring to the electoral process while tapping his finger on a brick.

The seven candidates running in this constituency will have their work cut out for them to earn the cross on their ballot.

“They all promise the land and never keep their promises,” he said seriously.

Delivering the goods is his bread and butter – and so, predictably, it is high on his list of demands for whoever wins the keys to Downing Street.

“If you say you’re going to do something, do it,” he says.

Simon Parker, 53, department manager at the store, focuses on national photos. He plans to vote Conservative, although he is pessimistic about the party's chances of winning a majority.

His money is aimed at a “hungry” parliament, in which no party will win enough seats to achieve an overall majority.

For him, the election comes down to a question of personality.

He says Labor leader Keir Starmer “is very smart” and “doesn’t look very good”.

He concedes, however, that “no one is brilliant” and takes aim at Conservative leader Rishi Sunak.

“I don't like him as a person because he pushed Boris [Johnson] out [of Downing Street].

Mr Parker adds: “Boris was a popular person. I don't think Rishi was.”

Alfred Dumbrell, 78, says he voted for both UKIP and the Conservatives in previous elections.

“I voted Conservative in the 2019 election and I will do so again this time,” says the retired workshop worker.

But he has a message for Tory HQ.

“I’d like to see them take their finger off,” he added. “Think more about the public, in places like Grimsby.”

Tom King, an independent plumber and heating engineer, called for wood.

He says he feels “disappointed” by the Conservative Party.

“The key is honesty,” he said. “If you say you’re going to do something, do it.

“If I quoted a client a price for a job and told them it would take a week, but then charged three times the amount and took six months, they would rightly tell me to get screwed.

“And yet this is exactly what the government was doing to people.”

Mr King says the city has not benefited from Brexit; an issue, he says, that was central to how the electorate chose to vote in 2019.

The cost of living crisis also dissuaded him from voting Tory, adding: “We try to keep prices the same, but our costs keep going up; the price of copper has skyrocketed.”

As I pass the real estate dealers, I find Baiba Lauksteine, 42, mother of four children. She is also an undecided voter and tells me she will listen with interest to the candidates' promises on fighting crime, both locally and nationally.

“We need more police,” she said. “My family had a lot of problems with racism in Grimsby.”

Chris Pearson, 62, was chatting to a family member, but interrupted to say: “I don't think the Tories will hold on to Grimsby.

“So many people I've spoken to have told me never to vote again. They'll vote Labor or not at all, that's what they tell me.”

John Steer, 65, believes that “the Conservatives are doomed”, adding: “I don't see how Mr Sunak is going to get out of this.”

He thinks that change of limit may have an effect on the result.

“There is more wealth in Cleethorpes [than Grimsby]”, he said. “I'll vote Labor, but I always have.

“The conservatives have wasted hospitals, doctor's offices, dentists, etc. Now they say there is money for everything. But there hasn't been any for 10 years or more.”

Full list of candidates for the Grimsby and Cleethorpes constituency:

Ed Fraser – Green

Oliver Freeston – Reform UK

Mark Gee – Unionist and Socialist Coalition

John Lawson – Liberal Democrats

Lia Nici – Curator

Mélanie Onn – Work

Christopher Stephenson – SDP

You can use the BBC News Search Tool to find out which constituency you belong to, who is a candidate in your region and in which polling station you can vote.

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