Observations and data from the exit poll I conducted today in Hartlepool:

Shy Tories:
A significant number of voters, after agreeing to take part in exit poll, looked very uneasy when I asked them who they voted (when it was Tory)...

It was funny, two of the people I surveyed couldn’t even say the word. They said the name of the council candidate. I pressed for their by-election vote and to which they said Jill (Tory), but claimed they didn’t know she was Tory.

It was a common trend that people would agree to be questioned, then when asked the first question they wouldn’t answer.
There was none of this with Labour, they answered straight away.

The second observations:

Tory explanation.
Some people who voted Tory gave a voluntary explanation to why. I can’t work out whether this was a justification or general enthusiasm. Again, this didn’t happen with Labour voters.

“We owe it to Boris after Brexit”

“He’s done a great job with the vaccine rollout”

“I really like Boris”

Yeah, pains me to say as a Boris-sceptic, but he’s a vote winner. 54% of the Tory voters i polled said they might not vote Tory if Boris wasn’t PM.

Brexit is still raw in Hartlepool. Of the first time Tory voters I polled, nearly all of them said Brexit was a factor in their decision making.

No Labour voters considered Brexit when voting.

Jeremy Corbyn isn’t popular.
Half of Labour voters said they wouldn’t vote for Jeremy Corbyn, despite all but one of those having voted for Labour in 2019.

When asked, “who do you think your neighbours will vote for”

60% said Conservative.

What was interesting was the change in voters throughout the day. Was even till 4pm then it was Tory after Tory. Have to assume this is work related.

Finally

The third party vote completely collapsed. Not one person said Reform. People had to be prompted to remember they voted BXP in 2019.