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00:00Hello, Rafe Blackburn, National World's Politics Editor, and there are just six days to go
00:14until polling day. We are in the final stretch. Party leaders are touring the country making
00:20their last pitch to voters, and I have come out to the far reaches of northeast London
00:25on the border with Essex in Chingford in the seat of Chingford and Woodford Green.
00:31As you can see, it's very green and leafy. Behind me, we've got this parkland. We're
00:37actually in Epping Forest, the ancient woodland. There is also a golf course nearby and there
00:44are big detached houses around here. And this seat has been held by the Conservatives for
00:49decades. The former Tory leader, Iain Duncan Smith, is the incumbent MP, and it really
00:55has been very safe Tory territory. That is at least until this election when Labour were
01:04widely tipped to take it. To a certain extent, it looked like a foregone conclusion until
01:09a twist at the last minute. The party's candidate in 2019, Faiza Shaheen, was due to stand again
01:18this time around. However, the Labour leadership suspended her and blocked her from standing
01:25just after the election was called. She's been replaced by a councillor from northwest
01:32London called Sharma Tatler, and Shaheen is now standing as an independent. And that has
01:38left the door open for Iain Duncan Smith to potentially hold onto his seat. So this could
01:43be one of the few parts of London, one of the few parts of the country where Labour
01:47isn't able to make the gains it expected. Tory sources have told me they expect Shaheen,
01:54who's got quite big name recognition here, she's campaigning strongly around the Gaza
01:58wall, which has been an issue for Labour to get between 4,000 and 8,000 votes. They will
02:04mostly be taken from people who would have previously voted Labour. So that gives Iain
02:09Duncan Smith a chance to retain his seat in what could be a few bright spots on what is
02:16likely to be a tough night for the Tories come Thursday.
02:23So I've just been talking to people along Chingford High Road behind me about the general
02:28election, who they are planning to vote for, the key issues for them and their thoughts
02:33on Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak. And there's a few points which have really stood out.
02:39Firstly, that a lot of people are largely still undecided, even though there is not
02:44long to go left in the general election campaign. People are still weighing up between Labour,
02:50the Tories, reform and the independent candidate Faisal Shaheen. Secondly, speaking of Faisal
02:57Shaheen, I spoke to a number of people who said they were going to vote for her, or indeed
03:01already had, because she is a local candidate, whereas the Labour candidate comes from northwest
03:08London.
03:09The other interesting subplot, which I don't think has been hugely discussed, is this Labour
03:14to reform switch. There's a lot of focus about Reform Party taking votes from the Tories.
03:21But actually, a lot of people I spoke to said they previously voted Labour, but now were
03:27moving over to reform as they felt like the Labour Party no longer stood for the working
03:32man, so to speak.
03:35So I'm now in Finchley Park, and this is where Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, is
03:40hoping to win re-election, but this time as an independent candidate. Now, traditionally,
03:46independent candidates have really struggled to win. It's particularly an issue around
03:50name recognition. You have to say, if any high-profile independent was going to win,
03:55it would be Jeremy Corbyn, who had such personal popularity in 2017, and still, certainly with
04:03a proportion of the electorate, particularly here in north London, he still has that. He
04:08also has great name recognition as he's been the constituency MP here since 1983, and he's
04:13very widely considered to be a very good and very invested MP. So let's go and speak to
04:19some people to see whether they think Corbyn can upset the apple cart and stop Labour from
04:25getting another seat.
04:30How long have you known Jeremy Hussein?
04:3413, 14 years.
04:38You've obviously got posters up, you've got some leaflets here. Why are you supporting
04:45him so much for the general election?
05:07Do you think he can win even though he's not in the Labour Party anymore?
05:38And this game is torturing. Let's see the referee, if they beat him, they charge properly
05:48or if they want to give a penalty to somebody or something like that, they will **** the
05:56game. I wish Jeremy would win because we need him. We need him for himself as well because
06:02of his life. He doesn't want to retire now. He doesn't need money to retire. He will just
06:12finish his life by putting people at stake in his life.
06:18Do you think the Gaza war is having an impact on voters around here?
06:23My friend, Gaza war and Ukraine war, the problem, they destroyed all our here. We have
06:31little bit to move Gaza now and Ukraine war and to look about here, what's happening in
06:38England now, the crime here. We know the crime here. I here in the shop three weeks ago,
06:44they attack, lift the shop and I was inside still until 470.
06:50Really?
06:51And even I'm here inside, I was in the office and they come here and they call the police,
06:56police is rubbish, nothing. They stand here no more safe. We don't want war in Gaza. We
07:03don't want war in Ukraine. But we have to look after ourselves first. Before you defence
07:10about my family, defence about your family first. If your family dangerous, that's when
07:16we are finish all. We have to talk about England, it's be as well. What's going to happen?
07:21So obviously hearing there from Hossain, who is a local business owner, he was very enamoured
07:27with Jeremy Corbyn. He said he'd known him for decades. You know, he said he loved him.
07:33He said his Labour kick him out was like, you know, a football match being corrupt.
07:39So very passionate work there. And I've just been speaking to the Jeremy Corbyn camp and
07:44they were a little bit furtive whether they think he's going to win. But they said it
07:48was neck and neck. And while I was there, you know, dozens of canvases were showing up.
07:53So clearly they have quite a strong ground operation now. You know, Corbyn, he could
07:59win. He might not win. Up in Chingford, Faisal Shaheen, she probably won't win. But the level
08:05of the support we might be able to see for these two independent candidates could show
08:09the cracks that might start to form in Labour's support once they form a government.
08:15So these are some signs to watch out for come polling day.
08:19So that's all from me, Rafe Blackburn, National Wales Politics Editor. Remember, you can find
08:23all of our politics coverage on our website and on the app. And make sure you join me
08:28on our live blog come polling day.