BBC spending the day focusing on Bishop Auckland
Month to go until the December General Election
County Durham constituency likely to be an election barometer
It's a Leave-voting, Labour-held marginal seat
Young entrepreneurs tell of 'important opportunity' at polls
Lucy Moody
Journalist
I'm out and about asking shoppers in Bishop Auckland what one thing they think politicians could do to improve life in the town.
Steven, 32, from nearby Ferryhill, said that the town needs more shops.
He added: “If we were to open more shops it would get more regular visitors from other places."
David MacMillan
BBC Tees
I asked students at Teesdale School in Barnard Castle what they would like politicians to do to improve the lives of younger people in the area.
Transport was a very popular issue they felt needs sorting.
Kal, 17, is hoping to go to university to study English. He called for improvements to public transport.
"I live in a small village and public transport doesn't happen very often, there's around three buses to Barnard Castle a day," he said.
"I was on the phone to the council recently because I have to travel four miles to get here (Teesdale School) and post-16 you have to pay to the bus."
Image source, GoogleKatie, 15, also said transport is a big issue and said her sister, who studies at a sixth form centre in Darlington, works three jobs to be able to pay for her transport and continue her education.
"It's all money really that holds us back from being able to do things that we do," she said.
"I'm not going to the same sixth form as my sister but if I had the money I think I would go.
"It's making me think that in the future how am I going to get to university and how will I be able to travel places that I want to go if we don't have the money for it?"
Duncan Leatherdale
BBC News Online
Over the next few weeks of campaigning, we will be looking closely at the places where the election could be won or lost.
Bishop Auckland in County Durham, is one of them.
It faces the same dilemmas as many other towns - dying high streets, a strained health service and uncertainty over Brexit.
One family has been at the political coalface in this former mining area for decades. What do they and others think the future holds?
Image source, TOM BANKSAre you ready to vote?
You need to register at least 12 working days before an election - so for the general election on 12 December, the deadline is 26 November.
Do you have questions about the general election? Send your questions to BBC News and we'll do our best to answer them.
Lucy Moody
Journalist
I asked shoppers in Bishop Auckland what one thing they think MPs could do to improve life in the town.
Antony Gabriel, 65, from Bishop Auckland, used to be an ice-cream man in the area. He thinks the hospital should be a high priority on the politicians' list.
Quote MessageThe hospital needs improving. I don’t think people should have to travel from the dales to Durham when they’re passing Bishop Auckland hospital.
Quote MessageThey’ve spent millions in the hospital and then started closing the wards down. I think money should be put back into it."
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The constituency of Bishop Auckland is a mixture of post-industrial towns and agricultural communities.
Towns such as Bishop Auckland and Shildon were places once synonymous with coal mines and the railway industry.
Heavy industry, which once employed thousands of local people, has disappeared. However, the UK's last TV manufacturer, Cello, can still be found in Bishop Auckland.
Unemployment in these areas is high by national standards and their high streets are littered with empty shops.
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The BBC is in Bishop Auckland as part of a tour to find out what people want from the vote and politicians.
Like the wider region, the constituency voted decisively for Brexit in 2016 and in previous elections has been a Labour stronghold.
But at the last election Labour's Helen Goodman won by just 502 votes.
We would like to hear what questions you have about the constituency - is there a local issue you want to know more about?
Among the panel of voters at Auckland Castle today is Gary Ewing, owner of Inspiral Cycles bike company.
He tells BBC 5 Live's Nicky Campbell: "I'm wondering whether people just wanted to punch David Cameron in the face, metaphorically speaking, with the Brexit vote - a vote to say they were unhappy with the way things were going.
"The Conservatives are promising to get us out of this mess, but they're the ones who got us into it.
"I don't think there's going to be anything other than a mess for the next decade."
Businessman John Elliott tells BBC Breakfast the country needs "leadership" and "a better parliament".
"This is what I'm hoping for because that's what determines the country. Let's hope Boris is going to change things because in my opinion we've underperformed for the last 30 years.
"I think Brexit is a symptom of a bigger problem - that problem being our parliament."
Mr Elliott is the founder and boss of Newton Aycliffe-based manufacturing business Ebac.
Set up in 1972 to make dehumidifiers, in recent years it has also started producing the first British designed and built washing machine for 40 years.
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There have been so many mentions on Twitter already this morning as the BBC focuses on the County Durham constituency, it is among the UK's top trends.
We'd really like to hear from you - if you want to get in touch you can tweet us, external, contact us via our Facebook page , externalor email us and you can also post your questions here.
Image source, TWITTER
BBC Breakfast
Brian Palmer, chief executive of Cello Electronics which is the last remaining television manufacturer in the UK, warns the loss of mining jobs has had a huge economic impact on County Durham that is still being felt today.
"We can't account for all the lost jobs in mining and mining paid really good wages," he said.
"This is an assembly plant in a very competitive industry and that doesn't allow us to pay maybe what many people have lost.
"The area needs to produce good-paying manufacturing."
The Bishop Auckland-based firm produces about 1,000 televisions every day.
The deadline for candidate announcements for the general election is 14 November, but those who have so far declared for Bishop Auckland are:
Nick Brown - Brexit Party
Dehenna Davison - Conservative
Ray Georgeson - Liberal Democrat
Helen Goodman - Labour
The BBC website will have a full list of candidates after Thursday's deadline.
Auckland Castle is the setting for this morning's early BBC programmes as we focus on the constituency of Bishop Auckalnd and it's clearly impressing the presenters.
The 900-year-old castle was reopened to the public earlier this month after a multimillion-pound renovation.
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Richard Moss
Political Editor, BBC Look North
Labour is ingrained in this area but it is clinging on. The Conservatives have never had an MP here, but the threat is real this time.
Brexit is an issue. People voted for Brexit and they don't, perhaps, think Labour's offer is clear enough.
But equally, people want investment in their schools and there's a big issue with the local hospital and services disappearing.
They also want investment in buses, roads and trains, and there's been a big rise in the number of food banks in the area.
The parties get a sense they will have to offer more than Brexit to attract voters.
Reporter Jayne McCubbin has been out and about in Bishop Auckland with the BBC's Coffee Cart, speaking to people in the town centre over a cuppa.
Billy thinks Brexit has left people feeling betrayed by all the parties.
"They thought 'give the monkeys a vote, they'll vote to stay in' and that's when the trouble started.
"They don't want to honour what the people said and keep the working classes down."
David Rhodes
BBC Yorkshire
Bishop Auckland, a constituency in County Durham, is found in part of the country known as the "land of the Prince Bishops".
Medieval knights used to fight over this part of northern England and in 2019 the constituency will be hotly contested.
It is a barometer for the rest of the north-east of England.
Like the wider region, it voted decisively for Brexit in 2016 and has historically been a Labour stronghold in general elections.
Labour has held Bishop Auckland since 1918 - apart from four years in the 1930s.
But heading into this election the incumbent MP, Helen Goodman, holds a majority of just 502 votes.
Image source, TOM BANKSMany of the BBC's programmes are broadcasting from Bishop Auckland today as we focus on voters in the County Durham constituency with a month to go until the general election.
BBC Breakfast's Louise Minchin and Carol Kirkwood were wrapped up for a chilly morning earlier and BBC 5 Live's breakfast show presenter Nicky Campbell has been enjoying the Auckland Castle library.
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Good morning and welcome to our live updates as the BBC switches its election focus to Bishop Auckland.
The BBC will be in the constituency throughout the day finding out what the key issues are and what people want from December's general election and politicians.
Image source, PETER HAYGARTHThere will be coverage across the BBC's output today - digital, TV and radio and both locally and nationally.
We'd really like to hear from you - if you want to get in touch you can tweet us, external, contact us via our Facebook page , externalor email us.