Out on the campaign trail with Corby Labour hopeful Lee Barron

It’s a familiar refrain on the Lloyds estate, and one we hear from every person we speak to on the campaign trail with the man who wants to turn Corby red again.

Labour’s Lee Barron is hoping to overturn a big Tory majority and unseat the incumbent Tom Pursglove at tomorrow’s vote.

But he’s got a job on his hands to navigate the knee-high grass and the tree roots fighting their way out of the bumpy pavements on Corby’s oldest estate.

Our reporter Kate Cronin went out on the campaign trail just a few days ahead of the election to hear what local people expect of their next MP.

The Lloyds estate is Labour heartland. The distinctive deep red-brick homes were built by steelworks bosses 90 years ago to house the industrious families from Scotland, drawn to Corby on a promise of a job for life. These houses were truly affordable homes, brand new, on tree-lined streets and within the reach of everyone who had a job in the works.

Many people have been here for generations, with houses handed down through their families. The Scottish lilt here, strong as ever, is unique to Corby.

Many of the people who we spoke to told us they are fed up of complaining about the things that affect their lives every single day and not being listened to.

The wide streets are neglected and the grass is knee high. Grass is, of course, a council issue, but it’s symptomatic of pinched finances that have come about as a result of Government local government funding policy.

Every voter we spoke to on the estate mentioned how proud they were to live on the Lloyds estate but how sad they were to see it in such a state.

‘I’ve not seen a dentist for more than four years’

Bev Sowerby is angry with the state of the NHS.

She’s not seen a dentist for more than four years.

"We couldn’t go during Covid because of the restrictions and then they threw us off the list because we hadn’t had an appointment in so long. Now there’s no NHS dental places available.

"I’m a carer myself. I have a friend who phoned 111 and was told there was a 16 hour wait for an ambulance, then they’d have another wait at the hospital.

"Things have just got to change.

"I’ll never vote Tory. People round here remember what happened (when the steelworks closed).”

Alison is also caring for her elderly mum in nearby Thoroughsale Road.

"My mum had to stop walking around to visit me because she was unable to get down the path,” she says, pointing to the rutted surface that has tree stumps growing through it.

"Look at the state of the grass. People are proud to live here but it’s such a pity. The paths need fixing and the grass needs doing. It would make my mum so sad to see this.”

‘I haven’t decided who to go for yet’

We return later, without the campaigners, but the prose is the same.

Daniel Maughan sighs: “I’ll vote for whoever can sort these streets out. It’s got to the point where people don’t care anymore so they just park their cars all over the verges and it makes things worse.

"I take it very seriously. Everyone should. I haven’t decided who to go for yet. I will probably have another think the night before polling day.”

Lee Barron says he’s had 5,000 conversations with local people during this campaign and has worked 15 hours most days. But the Tories have won four out of the past five elections in the constituency so he’s a big hill to climb. He’ll need an eight per cent swing and 8,000 more votes than his forerunner Beth Miller gained at the 2019 election.

When Rishi Sunak called the election ahead of the half term holidays, Lee had been due to leave for a break.

“The first thing I did was wave my wife and daughter off on holiday,” he said. “Then we were straight out door knocking here on this estate.”

‘It feels broken’

At each door we visit, Lee reminds the person he speaks to that he still wants to speak to them after the election. It’s a recognition of the concern that the relationship between voters and politicians of all parties – not just here but across the country – has deteriorated somewhere along the line. Lee says he’s making it a priority to fix that.

"I think it’s become important in this campaign to under-promise so we can over-deliver,” he said.

"Politicians making promises and then not delivering them has left a real hole. People don’t believe what politicians say anymore. It feels broken.

“Westminster seems a world away. MPs need to be working in their communities, being accessible.”

He says he’s paid no notice to the polls which predict big Labour gains.

"There’s too many undecideds out there,” he says.

"We’ll be making sure we’re out every day until polling day to get the vote out.”

‘The provision is just not there’

His opponent Tom Pursglove has repeatedly warned voters that a Labour win might put at risk the improvements at the Corby Diagnostic Centre, and the rebuild of Kettering General Hospital which was promised by Boris Johnson in 2019 but is yet to get under way.

Lee, a former postman turned union rep, says both projects will go ahead if Labour get into power.

"The money for the diagnostic centre is allocated, handed over, and the build has started,” he said.

"The money for KGH was identified and ring-fenced in the 2021 spending review. It’s there, it’s allocated and the rebuild is going ahead.”

"We’d ask the Tories why they haven’t built it seeing as they’re the ones who’ve been in power since it was promised.”

He says that if he wins the election, it’ll be time for a ‘grown up conversation’ about healthcare in North Northamptonshire.

"The provision is just not there for the growing population,” he says.

"There are GPs looking for work but surgeries can’t take them on because they’re saying other people are required, like physician associates. We say that’s ridiculous.

"In terms of dentists, we have to keep them in the NHS once they have qualified. We need to lock them in for a number of years.”

‘We want to turn the system on its head’

Previously, large developers have only paid the money they owe through Section 106 agreements at different stages in the build. Some, like those who built Little Stanion and Priors Hall, have reneged on major financial obligations before going under.

“Developers are going to have to put more into the pot,” says Lee.

"We’re going to have to secure more S106 monies so we can start to provide the public services we so desperately need.

"We want to turn the system on its head so funding for services and infrastructure is paid upfront. Some people will say it’s not possible, but we know that once you get planning permission land values shoot up. We need to capture some of that uplift in order to have infrastructure being delivered upfront so they’re not in a position to walk away from their responsibilities.”

- We also contacted the local Conservative Party to ask to join them on their campaign trail. We have had no response. Here’s some of what they have been up to their own general election campaign.

Home Secretary James Cleverly visits Corby

Tories pledge £20m in levelling up money for Corby

There is a full list of candidates standing in Corby and East Northamptonshire available here.

The BBC hosted a hustings event in Corby earlier this week. Here’s their report which features five out of the six candidates.