England flags, Tory pillows and farmland: A day on Starmer’s campaign bus

Jessica Frank-Keyes hops on the battle bus to join Labour’s campaign to tear down the Blue Wall

Shortly before 7am, a small horde of journalists arrived to board Labour’s press bus in central London. This plush vehicle was set to transport us for a day of reporting on the party’s efforts to seal the deal with middle England.

Strung with England flags, ‘Vote Labour’ table mats and even red ceiling lights, there was no mistaking the mood, as party staffers dished out slogan merch emblazoned with ‘Change’.

But as we settled down for the trip, shadow environment secretary Steve Reed bounded aboard to hand out a more memorable item: a distinctly unsettling pillow printed with Rishi Sunak’s face.

The reason? A physical representation of Labour’s key line over the past few days – warning voters “don’t wake up to five more years of the Tories”.

“It will be one of those terrible nights, you drink too much, wake up with a hangover, turn over in bed in the morning and what do you see smiling? Five more years,” Reed claimed.

On the pitch

First stop of the day, we rattled into Hitchin Town Football Club in Hertfordshire.

Labour’s candidate Alistair Strathern, who won Nadine Dorries’ old seat of Mid Bedfordshire just months prior, welcomed Sir Keir Starmer to the grounds alongside a crowd of activists.

We were told Starmer arrived by train at the venue and, disappointingly, declined to kick any footballs on the pitch. Taking questions from the media, he insisted to Sky News’ Beth Rigby that he does not in fact put his head on the Sunak pillow to sleep at night.

“I think people are fed up to the back teeth with politics as a form of self entitlement, self advancement,” Starmer said, vowing, if elected, to alter the very mindset of government.

Speaking just after the first round of French election results which saw Marine Le Pen’s party move to the brink of power, the Labour leader articulated his view on the challenges of populism.

“The lesson I take from that is that we need to address the everyday concerns of so many people in this country who feel disaffected by politics… that the country’s too broken to be mended,” he said.

Pub chat

Back out on the road again, and our lunchtime stop is a country pub – The Shoulder of Mutton – in Little Harwood, Buckinghamshire. Thatched roof, Tudor-style timbers and hung with outdoor lights, it’s every inch the English country idyll.

Decked out with rose gold fringe curtains, sunflowers and lanterns, the venue played host to a rustic wedding this past weekend. We’re deep in the heart of Tory country here.

We’re welcomed by one of Labour’s advance teams, who arrive ahead of the leader – and crucially the media – to sweep the place for unhelpfully placed Exit signs or other potentially embarrassing photobombs. “Yes, that’s my entire job,” one aide joked.

But Exit signs seem to be flashing red for the Conservatives here, as the party continues its real push into the Blue Wall. “Who’d have thought we’d be campaigning here,” another aide remarked.

As, again, activists gather to welcome Starmer, one campaigner from Bletchley reckons that while it’s surprising Labour are campaigning here, another battle is going on right now in the form of postal votes – in some ways a shadow pre-election.

Clad in gingham summer dresses, chinos and Labour merch galore, it really doesn’t feel like the type of crowd, or place, you’d expect to see the party campaigning so strongly.

Straw poll

And back aboard the bus, it’s on route to the final stop of the day, where this mood continues to be very much out in force. We roll into Heath Farm, deep in rural Oxfordshire, where, of all things, we spot a wooden ‘Vote Labour’ board on the grass verge outside.

Crowded into a rustic barn, with woodpiles and straw scattered across the floor, the vibe is verging on surreal as party faithful and local reporters await Starmer’s arrival.

Strolling in, alongside a sharp looking shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and shadow treasury minister Darren Jones, Starmer is greeted by actual whoops and cheers. One woman clasps his hands in hers, her face a glowing smile.

This seat was previously held by attorney general Victoria Prentis, who “thought she had a seat for life”, one woman mutters.

The event, like all those we’ve attended today, is deeply stage-managed, down to aides scratching a line in the straw for the shadow cabinet team to stand behind, for the broadcast cameras.

But what’s clear in no uncertain terms is that, barring a case of collective insanity among pollsters, a political upset is underway here in the shires. These voters are older, they are predominantly white, and, frankly, look like stereotypical Conservative voters.

After his speech, which was far more energetic than the one in the morning, one attendee said not everyone locally backed the idea of Starmer as leader. But some are clearly excited about him becoming the next Prime Minister.

June, a local party member, after shaking Reeves’ hand in delight, tells me: “For nearly fifty years my vote has been wasted… this is the first time it’s going to matter. The Tory Party have blown it for so long.”

I ask Edwina, who grabbed Starmer’s hand as he arrived, and is not a party member, what she thinks of the Tories’ claim that there’s no love out there for the grey-haired lawyer, especially in these types of seats.

“Rubbish,” she beams. “He understands people.”