Which way will undecided voters swing?

From commuters and beach cleanliness to sewage and greenery, Sean O’Grady explains how these issues could influence swing voters

High train fares are an area that may influence ‘soft Tories’ to vote for the Liberal Democrats (EPA)

One small piece of, relatively, good news in the latest UK inflation figures is that for the second year in a row, rail fares will not rise as much as they “should” do under the standard industry formula of RPI + 1 per cent. This would have meant another hike for commuters of 10 per cent next year, but the government has said that it will be “less than” that in 2024.

Regulated fares – which cover commuters – rose by a still hefty 5.9 per cent last March. Another rise in that scale would hit commuters, particularly in the southeast, hard – and of course comes on top of the incessant industrial action, overtime bans and the closure of almost every ticket office.

It raises the question of how certain types of issues that have been in the news in parts of, but not all, the country may play out politically when the election comes around next year. Issues such as rail services; sewage discharges into rivers; streams and on the coast; HS2 construction; the location of hotels (and any barges) used to accommodate refugees; and even the felling of much-loved copses of trees may well have a significant impact on certain constituencies, regardless of political swing. After all, all politics is local, as they say.