With Guinness the pub cat curled up next to him, Andy is clear what he’ll be doing come polling day.
“Having a beer”, he says, before chuckling into his pint.
“I won’t be voting for no one. They all tell lies. I’ve only voted once in my life and I’m 66 years old”, adds the long-time Kent resident.
That lack of faith in politics is widespread in Temple Farm Working Men’s Club in Strood.
Behind a bar draped in St George’s flag bunting, Lorraine says she’s also only ever gone to the ballot box once.
“I voted once before and that was for Maggie Thatcher… I just think they come out with a load of promises and they don’t follow up on it so it’s a waste of time.”
Election latest: Sunak questioned on ‘nightmare’ poll – as Tories employ ‘risky’ strategy
‘Normal’ Nigel
Amid a poll surge for Reform, Nigel Farage is one of the few politicians to come in for any praise.
Kelly, sat sipping a white wine, says she “might vote for Nigel” before adding: “I suppose he’s like the normal people, ain’t he? All the others, they’re not like us, are they?”
Election results in Rochester and Strood – and its previous incarnations in the Kent Medway area – have always tended to mirror the national outcome.
Nigel Farage is considered by some patrons of the Working Men’s Club as the most ‘normal’ politician to vote for.
Given that, Labour’s chunky poll lead is probably enough to unsettle the Tory incumbent.
But there’s another political front here.
Ten years ago, this…
