‘Bring back Thatcher’: voters in ‘blue wall’ voice scepticism before budget

Geoff Evans, 72, says the current crop of politicians on all sides are the worst he has seen in his lifetime. Photograph: Sam Frost/The Guardian

In rain-lashed Sunbury, a picturesque commuter town strung out along the swollen River Thames, there is scant enthusiasm for the Conservatives ahead of Jeremy Hunt’s much-trailed pre-election budget – even among the party’s erstwhile supporters.

Dodging the puddles, barrister Simon Wheatley, 67, describes himself as “traditionally Conservative; at the moment, undecided”.