General election 2019: Ex-miner on the march for a Tory majority in Parliament

Conservative candidate for Ashfield Lee Anderson
Robert Rathbone
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The fight for the once rock-solid Labour seat of Ashfield in Nottinghamshire’s former coal mining heartland is poised to be one of the defining contests of the general election.

But it is also one of the most unpredictable, pitting a young mother of four standing for Labour, who had her first child at 16 and campaigns as “one of our own”, against two main rivals who have each changed party but who both hold high hopes of winning.

Added to this is the impact of Brexit in a constituency in which 70 per cent backed Leave and the implosion of the local Labour party, which contributed to it suffering a disastrous local election defeat this year.

The rise of a “plague on both your houses” alternative party, the Ashfield and Eastwood Independents, which now runs the local council and is fielding its leader as candidate for Parliament, brings further complexity to electoral calculations, as does the Brexit Party.

Despite all this the Tory candidate, 52-year-old former miner Lee Anderson, is forthright about why he can win as he sets off door-to-door campaigning.

“All over Ashfield, people who should be voting Labour feel let down. They feel they can’t vote for Jeremy Corbyn, that it’s not the Labour Party they’ve supported all their life,” he says.

“A lot of people will vote Tory for the first time just to get rid of him. He’s toxic here.”

Conservative candidate for Ashfield Lee Anderson out canvassing with Brandon Lewis Minister of State for Immigration and Mark Spencer MP
Robert Rathbone

The verdict of Mr Anderson — a former Labour councillor who spent the last election working as campaign manager for the outgoing Labour MP Gloria de Piero before defecting last year amid claims of a Momentum takeover — reflects Conservative optimism that they can succeed this time after failing to take Ashfield by only 441 votes in 2017.

Big guns including Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel have already visited with the Tories knowing that victory is probably essential for a parliamentary majority.

Mr Anderson, who once attracted international attention by using a tractor to deposit boulders to stop travellers camping illegally in his village, argues that the prospect of a Tory victory ending the Brexit impasse is resonating with voters.

He wins support from David Abbott and his wife Glenys, a retired couple who voted Remain, but intend to vote Tory because they want Brexit over.

“It ought to be done because it’s been dragging on so much,” says Mr Abbott, while his wife adds: “Then we can get onto the things that really matter.”

Conservative candidate for Ashfield Lee Anderson out canvassing
Robert Rathbone

Nearby, Chris Whitaker, a 58-year-old groundsman, is condemnatory about Mr Corbyn.

“I will never vote Labour again. I’m Conservative from now on. Corbyn isn’t worth anything on the bottom of my foot,” he says. “I can’t stand the bloke: he’s an IRA lover.”

Others express support for the Ashfield Independents, whose leader Jason Zadrozny, 39, is standing.

Jason Zadrozny , Independent candidate in Ashfield

He came within 192 votes of winning the seat as a Lib Dem in 2010.

He went on to form the Ashfield Independents and this year helped them take 30 out of 35 seats on Ashfield council in a crushing victory over the Labour party. He says he is running a “non-politics campaign”.

Labour’s candidate, Natalie Fleet, candidly admits: “It’s really unpredictable and anybody that claims to know what’s going to happen in Ashfield is guessing.”

Labour's candidate for Ashfield, Natalie Fleet
Natalie Fleet

Ms Fleet, 35, who says she was motivated to stand after seeing services that have helped her raise four children eroded or removed, concedes too that voters are angry about Brexit and vows to vote in favour of a “good Labour deal” if the party negotiates one.

But she says that “cuts” to education and the NHS, coupled with low pay, insecure employment, foodbank use and “lots of other socio-economic issues” are equally important to voters and are helping her win support.

General Election 2019 - In pictures

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Back on the campaign trail with Mr Anderson, security minister Brandon Lewis emphasises the importance of a Tory victory.

“It was a seat that was very close last time,” Mr Lewis says. “We need a proper working majority to get things done in Parliament — and for us to get that we need to get Lee home. He’s a good local guy, works hard and deserves to win.”

Whether that happens, however, remains a very open question.

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