Voters in the town’s two key constituencies seem unimpressed by either party as conference season continues
In a fine autumnal drizzle, families wait patiently to pick up boxes of tins, pasta and other essentials from one of Swindon’s eight food banks. There are nervous mothers with pushchairs and young people with debilitating work injuries. There are embarrassed parents with teenage children to help carry their food packages.
“It’s going to be a struggle. We can only afford £60 a fortnight on food and prices are going up,” says Kerry Lewis, 29, who stands to lose £20 a week on her universal credit payments from 6 October, along with almost 6 million other people. “You’re trying to put your kids first, making sure they have enough to eat and are warm – so you have to put yourself last all the time. We go without food but we won’t let our kids see it.”
