'I love this place to bits, but we’ve been forgotten'

Jo Parr cares for her children, including Saralee, who has learning difficulties

"If you need something, the community comes together and helps that person out - we don't rely on government to do it."

These are the words of Jo Parr, a busy mum of four from Sutton-in-Ashfield in Nottinghamshire.

She juggles her time caring for her children - who have autism and disabilities - and volunteering as a warden at the church on Sutton's very own Downing Street.

The 45-year-old is a staunch advocate of the town - "I love Sutton to bits," she says - but feels that it has been forgotten by those in power.

"It's a lovely town, we just need more things."

The town falls under the constituency of Ashfield which is traditionally a red wall seat.

It turned blue in 2019 when then-Conservative Lee Anderson was elected, but he defected to Reform UK in March after he was suspended by the party for comments he made about London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

It's now a key election battleground with six candidates from various parties vying for the seat.

Downing Street - the Sutton-in-Ashfield version

Jo and her two eldest children - Saralee, 25, and Robert, 23 - attend a weekly personal development course at New Cross Community Church to try to increase their chances of finding paid employment.

“There’s not much work in Ashfield to be truthful," she says.

"But being able to do the courses and things like that gives us that little bit more knowledge of how to be able to go out and look for a job. But it’s quite hard.”

The town was once famed for its coal mines and hosiery empire but the colliery closed in 1989 and many factories relocated abroad.

The employment rate in Ashfield is more than 10% below the national average, at 64.9% last year.

The majority of work is low paid or manual, with 50% of jobs in manufacturing, health and social care, retail and vehicle repairs, according to the latest prosperity index rankings published by Ashfield District Council.

They also show the average wage for the 2022-23 financial year was £26,189, nearly £9,000 less than the UK average.

Jo and her children at their personal development session

Education has a big part to play. The same data shows that fewer than 40% of pupils in low income households pass GCSE English and Maths, which is one of the lowest rates in the UK.

Adults in the region also have low levels of qualifications.

Jo only learned to read and write two years ago, determined to achieve her dream role as a licensed lay minister.

“I’ve always struggled as I’m dyslexic," she explains.

"I bought a special pen to help me learn to read. You just swipe it over the words and it tells you how to say the word.”

Jo's son Callum is studying law at Oxford Brookes University

Jo's 19-year-old son Callum, who is autistic, appears to be bucking the trend and is the first in his family to go to university.

He's studying law at Oxford Brookes University and is a member of Youth Parliament.

“As much as I love Sutton, there just aren’t enough opportunities to work here," he says.

"A lot of the work is quite manual, there’s not really anything sort of office based."

Thursday's general election will be his first and he is excited to make his mark on the ballot paper.

“I’d really like to hear young people being put first," he says.

"So many politicians really try and target the older generation but we’re the future."

Safe point buttons have been installed in Sutton due to fear of crime

The issue of crime in the area is another concern for Callum.

Statistics from Nottinghamshire Police show the overall rate in Sutton-in-Ashfield in 2023 was 110 crimes per 1,000 people, 21% higher than the county as a whole.

“The youth centres are mainly closed," says Callum.

"The area hasn’t got the best reputation for crime and it’s all linked to lack of opportunities and general lack of being listened to by politicians and decision makers as a whole."

In 2022, Nottinghamshire Police introduced CCTV and safe point buttons in the town using safer streets funding aimed at enabling women and girls to feel safer in the town.

Despite the challenges it faces, the sense of community is so strong that generations of families stay in Sutton.

And although voter turnout was lower than the UK's 2019 average at 62.6% - the majority of people here still want to be heard.

Employment in the town is well below the national average

Analysis

By Hugh Casswell, BBC Radio Nottingham political reporter

Ashfield stands out from other "red wall" seats as the only place where Reform UK already has a foothold after Lee Anderson's defection earlier this year.

With him now standing against the Conservatives, combined with Labour trying to win back its former heartlands, plus a prominent independent candidate, it could be one of the most tightly-contested seats in the country.

Among other issues, voters here have told me they're concerned about immigration, the cost of living and crime.

Perhaps more than anything else though, there's a feeling that areas like Ashfield have been left behind.

That's a feeling politicians ignore at their peril - red wall voters had a huge say in the outcome of the last election, so what they decide to do next will doubtless have a big role to play this time too.

Candidates standing in Ashfield at the 2024 general election are as follows:

• Lee Anderson (Reform UK)

• Alexander Coates (Green)

• Daniel Holmes (Liberal Democrats)

• Rhea Keehn (Labour)

• Debbie Soloman (Conservative and Unionist)

• Jason Zadrozny (Ashfield Independents)

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