At the Fifteas Vintage Tearoom at Auckland Castle, we met Steve Goodwin and Rebecca Nye.

We asked them how a North East seat could have become a target for the Conservative Party after being a Labour heartland for so many years.

Steve said: "I just don't feel there's anyone I can trust at the moment, in terms of the people available to us, Labour, Conservatives, the other parties, there's no-one I've got confidence in to take us forward."

BBC Radio 5 Live

Believe it or not, there are people for whom the question of leaving or not leaving the European Union isn't the most pressing issue.

They have their preference and they voted one way or the other - but they really wouldn't mind if the opposite happened, if only things were better where they lived.

Bishop Auckland antiques dealer Suzanne Thomas voted to remain in the EU but says she wouldn’t “lose a minute’s sleep” if we left because there are more important issues facing the region.

Of more importance is "what goes on for us all every single day", she says.

"It’s what goes on in our hospitals, in our schools, in our towns, in our high street – these are the things that affect me and mine."

Mark Easton, the BBC's Home Editor, says issues other than Brexit may come to the fore over the next month.

"This is an election that is unscheduled. It's been called because the Prime Minister can't get Brexit sorted with the numbers in the House of Commons at the moment.

"But of course, as we saw in 2017 in an election that was also about breaking the Brexit deadlock, campaigns have their own character and things bubble up. During the last election you might remember social care became a huge talking point.

"Although this election will be driven by the huge issue of Brexit, other issues may become really important.

"In the North East I think there's a real sense that the world isn't listening to them, that their voice isn't loud enough, they want to be heard more.

"They don't think there's been enough investment and think power is too centralised in London or Brussels."

Christian Fraser
BBC Journalist

Bishop Auckland really is a tale of two towns.

I've been struck by what people have been telling me over the last few days about some of the new investment which is coming in here.

Behind me you have the ancient part of the town, down there is Auckland Castle which gave the town its name.

You can see there's lots of scaffolding down there and new investment, the City financier Jonathan Ruffer has come in here and saved the castle and the precious artwork inside.

Lots of people coming back to the town to have a look, it was newly reopened just the other week.

But when you come around here to the main drag in Bishop Auckland, you get a very different feel about the town.

At the top end here you can see some of the businesses have shuttered, even Poundworld has gone. Local businesses are really struggling to survive.

BBC Radio 5 Live

For people in Bishop Auckland, the floods in South Yorkshire are close enough to home to be a worry.

But local farmer Yvonne Scales thinks the distance between here and Westminster makes a big difference in perception.

“If the floods were in London I think it would be a national disaster," she says.

"But because it’s Doncaster it’s not such a national disaster.”

Image source, RICHARD MCCARTHY/PA MEDIA

Chi Chi Izundu meets voters with questions about online voting.

Lucy Moody
Journalist

Out on the streets of Bishop Auckland, one woman has told me law and order should be a big issue for politicians.

Joyce Dowson, 88, a retired lady from the town, thinks politicians should be doing more for the police.

She said “We haven’t got enough police in Bishop Auckland. I feel sorry for them because they’re up against it.

Mrs Dowson said she saw some young boys throwing things at a bus and since there was only one police officer she waited to make sure he was ok.

The Bishop Auckland constituency includes the towns of Bishop Auckland, Barnard Castle, Shildon, Spennymoor, and Middleton-on-Teesdale.

Some of the smaller towns were built in the era of coal mining, but now manufacturing - including food processing and packaging - public sector, and retail are the main sources of employment.

The rolling landscape, some of which forms part of the Pennines, also supports agriculture, particularly hill farming.

Image source, Getty

Readers have used Your Questions Answered to ask about the postal vote.

The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 17:00 GMT on 26 November.

You must make sure you are registered to vote, external and fill out and return a postal vote application form, external.

Ballot papers are printed and sent out about three weeks before polling day.

Image source, Getty Images

You can fill in your vote as soon as you receive it. It must be with your local authority before polling station close at 22:00 on 12 December.

Staff deliver postal votes and the ballot boxes from the polling stations to the count venue.

The returning officer must take reasonable steps to begin counting the votes before 02:00.

You can read more about the postal vote and answers to other questions here.

Lucy Moody
Journalist

An issue with the number of shops in Bishop Auckland seems to be forefront in people's minds when we ask them what politicians could do to improve the town.

Anne Robson, 79 and her husband Neville Robson, 82, from Bishop Auckland said they’d seen a number of shops closing.

Anne said: “They need to open more shops and spend more money in the town because it’s going down hill.

“I was born here, it’s horrible to see, it used to be a lovely town."

Neville agreed and said “one or two large shops might help”.

“I suppose you could some of the big retail brands here,” he added.

John Emmerson, a hill farmer from Bishop Auckland with 400 acres of sheep and cattle, said: "I'm going to vote Labour, and the reason for that is, Boris Johnson is the epitome of disingenuous, and people such as Ress-Moog don't in any way represent myself.

"The Conservatives are coming up here, they're putting a candidate, and the only reason for that is they have no interest whatsoever in the local area, is to see if they can get another seat in Parliament, which will make the position of the people of the North East worse not better.

"At the moment [Brexit] is not really affecting [my farm] but the possibility is disastrous, you're going to lose your major training partner, which is Europe for sheep, 40% of all sheep go to Europe, if we haven't got that trade, you'll find that the sheep will collapse, and that's noted by the Conservatives as they have put forward certain measure to protect sheep farmers."

The UK's 46 million registered voters will soon have to consider who they want their member of Parliament to be.

But who decides which candidates you can choose from? Find out the answer to this question and more here.

Pauline Smith, a hairdresser in Bishop Auckland, said: "I usually vote Labour, I don't claim to be an expert in politics, however my vote is swaying towards Conservative.

"I feel they've given a lot more to small businesses, understanding what they do for taxation, corporation tax. I'm not hearing anything from Labour, that's the reason I'm going that way."

BBC Radio 5 Live

Bishop Auckland is not alone in having a contingent of young people who have joined the Brexit debate half way through.

Not old enough to vote in the referendum but faced with a general election, they're now having to decide what they want and which party is likely to provide it.

Alex Robertson, who runs an eco-friendly gift shop in the town, is finding it "difficult trying to catch up on everything now that I am old enough to vote".

She's "mainly green" but, as they haven't done well in her nearby constituency, is considering tactical voting.

“I’m mainly Green but tempted on Labour just as a tactical vote to get the Tories out," she says.

"I feel like my vote could more of an impact if I voted Labour than if I voted Green."

Lucy Moody
Journalist

Investing in more shops seems to be a popular answer in Bishop Auckland to the question: "What could politicians do to improve your town?"

Stacey Spindley, 41, from Howden-Le-Wear, said more stores need open in the town to encourage people to visit.

The charity volunteer said it was “dying for trade at the moment".

“In the 13 years I’ve lived here there have been hundreds of shops closed, there’s just cafes now and the cafes are struggling because there aren’t any people. It’s not fair on them."

In Fore Bondgate in Bishop Auckland independent stores have been opening in the past year, many of them run by young business people.

The market town in Country Durham has been getting investment with its newly-renovated castle reopening this month and a new museum and gallery planned.

But there will be an added focus on Bishop Auckland during the general election campaign because of how close the election was two years ago. Historically the town has elected Labour MPs, but in 2017 the Conservative candidate was just 502 votes behind.

As the politicians target the town, what do the young entrepreneurs in Fore Bondgate want from their future MP?

Lucy Moody
Journalist

Daniel Thomson, 24, from the town, told me he thinks more should be done to improve the roads around Bishop Auckland.

He said: "Some of the roads are pretty bad, especially where I live. There’s cracks and holes."

Although historically Bishop Auckland is a Labour stronghold, it is one of the seats the Conservatives are hoping to take.

With a majority of only 502 votes in 2017, all it would need is a 0.6% swing for it to change hands, hence it is being heavily targeted.

In addition, the constituency voted in the 2016 to leave the EU by a healthy margin - 60.89% to 39.11%. The previous Labour MP, Helen Goodman, supported the remain campaign.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Carl Howe used to be a bus driver but now runs an axe-throwing centre and describes himself as "Bishop born and bred".

He's worried about cuts.

"Bishop Hospital cost £66m in 2002 and, since then, it’s been department closed after department closed after department closed," he says.

"My sister’s a police officer. She’s stretched thin - a 28-year-old female out on her own.

"Sometimes the nearest back-up is six minutes away by blue light. It’s worrying every time she goes to work for her family.

"Services are being stretched so thin in this area.”

David Rhodes
BBC political reporter

There is a good chance of a Tory victory here, this seat is basically a coin toss, that's how close this constituency is.

Five hundred and two votes made the difference last time, and it's vital for both Labour and the Conservatives - for Labour they need to hold on to seats like this, if they want to be the party of government.

And as for the Conservatives, if they can win here, maybe Boris Johnson can start looking towards having a majority in the House of Commons.

It is a vital seat and we will see a lot of campaign activity here in the coming weeks.