Some of Mansfield's voters say that they would welcome Boris Johnson back with "open arms" as support for the former Prime Minister to become the next Conservative Party leader builds. Following the resignation of Liz Truss over issues including the economic fall-out from the mini-budget, the process of finding her replacement has begun.
The Conservative Party has confirmed that this process will be much shorter than usual, with those wishing to become the next leader requiring the support of at least 100 MPs by 2pm on Monday (October 24). Although he hasn't officially confirmed that he is standing yet, dozens of Conservative MPs have already come out in support of Boris Johnson returning to Number 10 Downing Street, including the Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clarke-Smith.
Mansfield had historically been a Labour stronghold until 2017, when the constituency elected Ben Bradley, who they voted in again in 2019. Some people in the town now say that they would welcome the return of Mr Johnson as Prime Minister.
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Kenneth Johnson, 76, is a retired shipyard worker who is originally from the north east and now lives in Mansfield. He said: "I would definitely welcome him back with open arms because I think he did a good job when he was in last time.
"I had historically been Labour all my life but Tony Blair completely changed that for me because I saw him as a man who just feathered his own nest, and ever since I have voted Conservative. But I didn't reckon much to Liz Truss at all and I think Boris did a good job.
"There was obviously the issues with parties during lockdown but Keir Starmer had his own problems with that and so did most of the people I know. I even broke the rules myself, because I think it's really hard to completely socially isolate yourself like that."
Carl Allison, 41, lives in Mansfield with his wife Zoe Allison, 43, and despite the fact that he voted Conservative in 2019, Mr Allison thinks that a general election is now needed. He said: "I did vote for the Conservative Party and I come from a family with a long line of Labour voters but after Brexit, I have voted Conservative and that is why I voted for Boris.
"I do think Ben Bradley has done good for this area as well but whoever they choose, we do need to have an election because we can't have two unelected Prime Ministers. It is a shame really because Ben Bradley could end up losing his job at the next election because I think the Tories have got a lot of work to do."
Zoe Allison added: "There is a lot to be sorted out but they're too busy squabbling among themselves at the minute. I do think there has to be a general election."
John Liffen, 86, a retired miner from Mansfield, was also happy for Boris Johnson to take charge again. He said: "Boris Johnson did say 'hasta la vista' and here we are.
"I had been brought up by my dad to recognise that Labour was the party of the working man and that the Tories were for the rich, but I did vote Conservative last time because I couldn't vote for Jeremy Corbyn. I do actually think that Ben Bradley seems to be doing an alright job and I think Boris should probably come back in."
But Denise Tooley, 50, lives in Mansfield and was in the town centre campaigning on behalf of the Socialist Party. She said: "It says a lot about the state of our politics that people are prepared to back peddle and to pick out the best of a bad bunch.
"We have to remember that Boris Johnson left office in disgrace and the fact that there is talk of him coming back shows how much apathy there is. This is a serious time but none of the two leading parties are delivering for working people and we're seeing that with all the strikes and the Enough is Enough protests."
But in David Boot Butchers, Mandy Nazar, 62, who has worked for the business for the last five years, said that she had lost faith in politics altogether. She said: "I probably started not paying attention to politics as much when all of the Partygate stuff came out, after I had been sat inside during coronavirus without being able to see my mum, that made me lose a lot of faith.
"I'm not sure if it really matters who is in charge anymore because ever since covid, everything seems to have gone haywire. They're all a joke at the moment."
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