Marple voters say Rishi Sunak is ‘out of touch’
The road from Manchester to Marple is littered with political signs popping out from the gardens.
Marple is in the Hazel Grove constituency, a battleground seat which has always had a Lib Dem or Conservative MP.
It's been a Tory seat since 2015, with ex-MP William Wragg winning a 4,000-vote majority in 2019.
But one week before the election on July 4, the drive down Stockport Road to Marple is absent of Tory blue placards.
It's one of the signals that the town is ready to turn its back on the Conservatives when polls open next week, with lifelong Tory voters saying they can't support the party any longer.
Ian Burns, 72, is one of those. He's voted Conservative all his life, but said he'd be "too embarrassed" to put a Tory placard in the house now.
"The way they have acted is disgusting. All the promises they've made in the last week, what about everything they've been doing the past ten years?
"I'm going to vote Liberal Democrat. I think they tell the truth and they come across like that. They seem more honest.
"If you're Labour – no. Conservative? Gone off them totally."
Down the road is the former office of ex-Tory MP William Wragg, who stood down as Hazel Grove MP after a 'sexting' scandal where he admitted to giving away his colleagues' personal phone numbers to a man on a dating app.
Apart from his name which is still etched onto the windows, all the signs that the building once served as his constituency HQ have gone.
And on the streets of Marple, people say Tory leader Rishi Sunak is just too "out of touch" to vote for.
Mr Burns said he knows the prime minister has "had a tough time" as leader of the country, but he can't get past the feeling that anything promised by the Tories is "made up."
He added: "He tries to be a man of the people, but what he's inherited with his wife and her family, they live in a different world, I don't think they understand. We need someone a bit more basic."
Daniel Gregg, 43, is another former Tory voter who is planning to ditch the party.
He said: "I don't trust anything that comes out of their mouth anymore"
"My mind has changed in that sense, I'll vote for anybody else but them. I don't want to vote Conservative but whoever I vote for is probably going to be just as bad.
"I know they'll never win but I'm thinking along the lines of the Green Party, because at least they seem to have a positive message and they're looking to try and change something for the better."
Mr Gregg's association with the Conservatives goes back more than a decade, when an online survey found that the party was most closely aligned with his own views.
He voted for the Conservatives in the past two elections, hoping that they would do enough to win him back – but that's not happened. Now, he's worried about the state the country has been left in.
He added: "It's the cost of living, everything that went on with Covid, I just don't trust anything that the government say.
"Everything that's gone wrong with the country at the moment, I lay blame with that particular government."
The writing was on the wall for the Conservatives last year, when Rishi Sunak's visit to Marple was overshadowed by the reaction he was given by locals.
After a visit to the La Dolce Vita Restaurant, he was booed on Marple's streets, with shouts of 'leave now' and 'resign' from people passing by, as he was ushered by his security team into the back of a Range Rover.
And since the general election was called, most polls are predicting a Lib Dem victory in the seat which has been Tory since 2015.
That would see Lib Dem candidate Lisa Smart become Hazel Grove MP on the fourth attempt at trying, having failed in each election since 2015.
But for some Marple voters, it matters less who becomes MP, and more about making improvements in the town.
Steve Hambleton, 63, is angry about how difficult life has become for many people, and plans to vote for Reform UK.
He said: "Everyone is sick of the state of our country. Crime's an issue around here, we've been burgled twice, we've had our cars stolen."
Amanda Hambleton, 62, added: "And property prices are an issue, as well as jobs.
"People take on loads of debt, our son is 32 and doesn't have money to get a house. We need more affordable houses for people.
"We're fortunate to be able to help out kids, but a lot of people can't."
Fiona Meakin, 43, a Labour voter, added: "I've been a Marple resident for a long time. I suppose it's mainly just a battle between Labour policies and the Liberals.
"A vote for the Liberals in this area will probably have a bit more of an impact but, nationally I'm Labour over Tory any day.
"In Marple, there are areas of real wealth but equally there are pockets of deprivation.
"I think there's also a lot of secret Tory voters here, I think I was surprised last time but there's also been so much uncertainty with Brexit and everything.
"My parents have been very Liberal supporters. I grew up helping them writing Liberal letters and stuff like that. I think for this area, a Liberal vote is important."
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