Cities of London & Westminster voters' top election issues

The nation will go to the polls tomorrow (July 4) after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak surprised many with a summer general election.

The Cities of London and Westminster, which covers most of the City of Westminster and the City of London, now includes the Abbey Road and Regent’s Park wards, which belong to the soon-to-be abolished Labour-held seat of Westminster North.

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Conservative Nickie Aiken was elected MP with a majority of just under 4,000 votes in 2019. He is retiring at this election and UK Polling Report has predicted the seat will go Labour this week.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Matthew Lusty, 58, said Brexit was his main issue.

Matthew Lusty, 58. Credit: Adrian Zorzut

He told the LDRS: “It’s just been airbrushed out of the conversation.”

Mr Lusty said Brexit has been a “mess”.

Gaye Gibson, 57, has lived in the capital for eight years.

Gaye Gibson, 57. Credit: Adrian Zorzut

She said the honesty of politicians is the main issue for her.

Raife Bashford, 29, said social housing was top of his list.

Raife Bashford, 29. Credit: Adrian Zorzut

Raife told the LDRS he can’t afford a home and is now living on a houseboat.

He said: “More social housing is something I’d be up for. For me, I think if you have more social housing available to a greater number of people, that can take a little pressure off the private market, which can then bring down pricing for people, [that] is my theory anyway.”

Raife also said he doesn’t mind paying more in tax if it goes to improving services. He said: “I don’t think it would happen here but I don’t mind the European mindset where it’s sort of high service, but for a high tax threshold.”

Jacaranda, 56, said she just wants to see a change of Government and said it is “inevitable” that taxes will go up.

Jacaranda, 56. Credit: Adrian Zorzut

She said: “We’re in dire straits. Why didn’t people realise that? You know, [services have] gotta be paid for. It’s been grim.”

Katie, 31, said getting the economy back on track mattered most to her

Katie, 31. Credit: Adrian Zorzut

She also said it was important to address Britain’s budget deficit, which may require increasing taxes. She said: “Ultimately, I think the money has got to come from somewhere to pay for services. It’s difficult. I wouldn’t want to be in [politicians’] positions… It’s clear that we’ve got a deficit that we need to figure out but, this is a very, very tricky decision as to where those taxes [come from] and which ones they are.”

The Cities of London and Westminster has elected a Tory MP since its inception in the 1950 General Election.

According to polling by Electoral Calculus, Labour’s Rachel Blake is tipped to win the seat with a predicted 39per cent of votes, far ahead of her closest rival – Tory candidate Tim Barnes, who is predicted to win 19.7pc of votes. In third place is Reform UK with an estimated 16.2pc of the vote.