It's freezing cold, it's almost Christmas and the cost-of-living crisis is rumbling on. So it's understandable many voters in Stretford are seemingly indifferent to Thursday's by-election.
'I'm not bothered about all that mate,' one man says as he walks by the entrance to Stretford Mall. In two hours spent outside the shopping centre on Tuesday morning it's a response we hear dozens of times.
Triggered by the resignation of Labour's Kate Green, after she accepted Andy Burnham's offer to become deputy mayor of Greater Manchester, the by-election will see nine candidates go to the polls to become Stretford and Urmston's new MP. The front-runner is Labour's Andrew Western, the current Trafford council leader.
Given his party is defending a 16,417 majority, he will feel pretty confident of getting a seat in Parliament at the third time of asking, having previously unsuccessfully stood in the neighbouring constituency of Altrincham and Sale West in 2017 and 2019. He says his key priorities include supporting children and young people, providing more affordable and social housing and delivering sustainable economic regeneration throughout Trafford.
One person who will be voting for him is Sophie Elkin. Shopping with her baby daughter Wren, she says she was sad to see Kate Green stand down, having sought her help with a couple of issues.
She said: "I think the redevelopment of the mall is probably the biggest thing at the minute. It's important to keep the rent affordable so the existing shops don't get priced out and I'd like to see investment in infrastructure so it's not just developers making money out of housing.
"You look at what happened in Sale and Altrincham - they are very gentrified now. A lot of young professionals are moving here now as well, but you need to balance it so the traditional working class communities aren't priced out of everything."
Estelle Johnston says she's also likely to vote Labour on Thursday. And she also sees the redevelopment of the mall as crucial to Streford's future.
"They need to make it more accessible and they need to find a way of keeping more shops open. For a long time people came in and thought 'There's nothing here'.
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"If they can do something a bit more with Streford then more people will come. But there's a lot that needs changing, but that's just the way of things at the moment with this government."
If 2019's result is anything to go by, Mr Western's main rival is likely to be Conservative Emily Carter-Kandola. The 29-year-old, who studied in Salford and lives in Manchester, says she stands for protecting local green belt, ensuring residents are helped through the cost of living crisis and championing local business.
But one person who won't be voting for either of the two main parties is former English teacher Kevin Morley. A former Labour supporter, he says this time he'll be putting his cross by someone else's name.
"It won't be the Tories though," he says with a smile. "I voted Labour all my life until Tony Blair came in and he turned what was a genuinely socialist party into the new Conservatives. I think the new man [Keir Starmer] is pretty much the same.
"But I don't like to think about politics too much at the minute because it just makes me depressed. People are really struggling to make ends meet.
"I'd like to see people being able to get on with their lives without having to go to foodbanks just to make ends meet. That's the government's main issue."
Stevie Jansky is also planning to vote on Thursday, but says she needs to 'educate' herself on the candidates and issues first. She fears the redevelopment of the mall will help accelerate the gentrification of the area.
She said: "I moved here two and a half years ago, so I'm part of the gentrification problem, I admit that. But I think the mall's great as it is. Redeveloping is probably a step towards gentrification. It's a great community here. People are really friendly and you have everything you need on your doorstep."
Other candidates on Thursday include Lib Dem Anna Fryer, a senior mental health doctor at Trafford General Hospital. She joined the party in 2016 after being inspired by the then Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb's campaign for equality of care between mental and physical health and for a better care system.
The Green Party candidate is Dan Jerrome, the current leader of the group on Trafford council, campaigning for safer roads, repairing potholes anti-litter, a better town centre and support for low-energy homes.
There are five other candidates standing. They are: Hazel Gibb - Independent; Christina Glancy - Freedom Alliance; Jim Newell - Rejoin EU; Paul Swansborough - Reform UK and Julien Yvon - Social Democratic Party.
Voting takes place between 7am and 10am on Thursday, December 15, and the count will take place at the home of Old Trafford football ground as soon as the polls close.
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