The new Labour government has reached the political landmark of 100 days in office. But how do voters feel it has gone?

Simon Finlay and Gabriel Morris travelled to the cobbled streets of Folkestone, where the electorate ousted the previous Conservative MP, to hear their verdict…

Summer may be over, but Folkestone businessman Andy Burnett is looking back with quiet satisfaction at a job well done at his harbour-side fish and chip shop.

The 16 hour days along with the pain he suffers in his right forearm, caused by constantly working the fryer, have been tough, sometimes unrelenting for months.

But on a quieter, blustery October morning with wind and drizzle driven in from the Channel, it now seems worth it.

For the first time in his 47 years, he’s making good money, really good money. Mr Burnett is already looking ahead to retirement, taking it easy with his partner Sammy and perhaps waiting for a grandchild to come along.

Sandy’s Fish and Chips is the only chippie in the harbour area currently. He sources his stock as locally as he can although Folkestone’s dwindling fleet of fishing boats cannot be relied on to satisfy his needs.

The accidental synergy Sandy’s enjoys with a single harbourside pub, cafe and restaurant is also serving him well. He sends custom their way and vice versa.

There are often queues outside the premises with an in/out door system to keep the customers flowing and the tills ringing.

The chippie is just around the corner from Tontine Street where a quarter of a century ago, it was the scene of drunken brawling, teenage vomiting and a host of other unpleasant activities when its nightclubs spilled onto the pavements.

But much has changed down in the harbour area. Swanky new apartment blocks are being built, there is regeneration through the arts and a sense of hope.

Its small theatre is now well-established and sits near some quirky shops, the cobbled Old High Street and places to eat and drink.

It’s something of a destination for day-trippers, as has the Harbour Arm in the port where Hoverspeed fast ferries once plied their trade.

The well-heeled have either moved to or invested in properties in the town.

Many of these changes are the inspiration of Sir Roger De Haan, a born Folkestonian who made his fortune from selling his stake in the travel and insurance company, Saga.

It has not always been an easy ride. The project got off to an uncertain start but, with time and vision, has developed into the sort of place that attracts Londoners to live and for many local businesses to thrive.

The politics of the area in recent times has been fluid to say the least - Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Conservative again and (now) the Green Party have been in charge of the local council since 2000.

But in the post-war era until July, there have only been four MPs, all Conservative.

The most recent, the Oxford graduate Damian Collins followed the respected and much-admired Michael Howard’s six parliaments in the job in 2010.

Even after New Labour annihilated the Tories in 1997, the incumbent Mr Howard, now in the House of Lords, had two terms with a majority of just 6,000, yet his then agent Michael Buxton always believed the majority was solid, built on the foundations of hard constituency slog, visibility and service.

Such is the changing face of Folkestone, its newly-arrived trendy London folk, the surge in support for left-leaning parties, the lightning pace of social media to alter opinion and the presence of Reform UK, that Mr Collins today finds himself out of a job.

Mr Burnett, a lifelong Conservative, voted Labour in July because he was “disillusioned” by the local MP. He got his wish when Labour’s Tony Vaughan was returned with a majority of just under 4,000.

“I voted Labour because I got p****d off with Damian Collins and that was the only way to get him out,” explains the businessman.

Labour has had a rocky start. Changes to pensioners’ winter fuel allowance has caused turbulence on the back benches; the resignation of the Chief of Staff Sue Gray followed a power struggle in Downing Street and the seemingly endless row over “freebies” have made terrible headlines.

Labour activists are only too well aware that “saying” in opposition is a far cry from “doing “ in government, especially when modern voters’ promiscuity is making grace periods shorter and shorter.

So, as Labour reaches its 100 days in office, how does Mr Burnett rate Sir Keir Starmer’s performance?

I know you can’t get anything in place in 100 days, but you want to hear what they intend to do and that’s not happened

He chuckles.

Reprising the final line of The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again, he replied: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Nothing’s changed.

“He’s done zero, less than zero, for small businesses. Stuff that affects companies across the country - energy prices, the minimum wage, VAT on food, the cost of stock, rates.

“Do you realise that for every tenner I take, two quid goes straight to the government in VAT?

“I know you can’t get anything in place in 100 days, but you want to hear what they intend to do and that’s not happened.”

Mr Burnett says chains in the centre of town are moving out because of the crippling cost of just being there.

He adds: “We’re lucky to have a good location down here and a few quid in the bank but we run a tight ship. We have to.

“Keir Starmer and this new lot are no different to the last lot. They are not listening.”

Kent County Council (KCC) goes to the polls in 2025. Given his disillusionment, will he vote?

“I always vote,” he says carefully, “If ‘None Of The Above’ was a party I’d vote for them. I think Reform will split the vote, so I will probably go back to the Conservatives.”

Reform UK got Daniel Burvill’s vote in July.

The 28-year-old runs the kitchen at the nearby Ship Inn as a separate business to the pub and is doing well, despite the rising costs of stock.

He fears Labour will hit business with higher taxes.

Mr Burvill, who left Pent Valley School as a teenager and went straight to work in catering, says: “You would think after 100 days they would have started to sort things out or tell us what’s going on but that’s not really happened.

“They have to prove themselves but it just feels the same.

“Damian Collins was liked and disliked as an MP depending on who you spoke to. I don’t know who the new Labour MP is because I don’t know what he looks like and he’s not shown his face around here as far as I know.

“At least Damian Collins had been to the area.”

Despite his inclination towards Reform UK, Mr Burvill remains undecided about where his vote will go next May for the KCC elections.

Folkestone-born Andy Morris, 52, is a product of the Harvey Grammar School, who has carved out a living in various jobs over the years. But sport has been his life-long companion.

A more than competent cricketer, his schoolboy exploits as a swing bowler earned him a mention in the cricketing bible, Wisden, for taking 50 wickets in a season. As a footballer, he appeared on Sky Sports in an FA Cup tie for non-league side Ashford against Fulham.

Down here, he is best known for playing for Folkestone Invicta, a gritty right back who could pull on a keeper’s jersey if required.

Today, outside of his day job as a support worker to vulnerable adults, he helps out on the coaching staff at the club, with goalkeeping and data analysis.

Mr Morris must be doing something right as Invicta have just thumped Ascot United in the FA Trophy 8-1.

He did not desert the Conservatives in July, but watches the faltering steps of the new Labour government with concern, not “told-you-so” amusement.

“There doesn’t seem to be a plan,” he says thoughtfully, “I think that the whole business about freebies doesn’t play well with the public, particularly when Labour wants to take the winter fuel allowance away for some people.

“That wasn’t thought through. It’s not a great look, is it?”

Mr Morris worries a lot about the NHS waiting lists, the squeeze on adult social care and the asylum system - none of which appear to be addressed so far in his eyes.

The government is being criticised for waiting until the end of October to deliver its first budget, as no departments will know how much, or how little, they are going to get to deliver their programmes.

Reform UK will target Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh for the county council seats next May.

They can probably count on the vote of Paul Brown, 64, who sees Labour’s start as “diabolical”, particularly over the winter fuel allowance.

“To punish pensioners after what they have done for the country is just wrong,” he bemoans. “That man (Starmer) needs to think again.”

Shane Record has been plying his trade as an artist long before Folkestone’s regeneration through art and culture really took off.

He has been a well-known and much-admired figure for the two decades he has been active in the town.

Mr Record runs a gallery in the Old High Street, can be seen through the window working by passers-by with his beloved beagle-cross curled in a basket near his feet.

Business is “okay”, he confides.

He is a Green Party supporter but voted Labour to remove Mr Collins and the Conservatives.

Mr Record is not impressed by what he has seen so far of Sir Keir Starmer in government.

We are heading towards a catastrophe and people have got to realise that

“I don’t see any vision or any plan. F*** all,” he says.

“I normally vote Green. I don’t drive, I don’t fly on planes and I am a vegan and I would rather there was a plan for the environment. It’s much more important than freebies - I can’t get het up about that.

“We are heading towards a catastrophe and people have got to realise that. I have nothing against means testing for the winter fuel allowance. We should be helping the people who are struggling.”

Aside from campaigning for greater awareness about the terrors of climate change, he hears little from Labour about housing, affordable rents and homelessness.

He volunteers at the Rainbow Centre, which provides services, help and advice for people with nowhere to live.

Seven homeless people reportedly died in Folkestone last year and Mr Record is using his art (a series of portraits) to raise the visibility of a sometimes forgotten sector of the community.

At a café a short walk from Mr Record’s gallery in Alexandra Gardens, and not far from the Bouverie Place shopping centre, the former town centre manager John Barber sits with a cigarette and cup of coffee on the go.

Mr Barber is keeping out of the rain under an awning.

He is as true blue as they come and stuck by Mr Collins at the general election.

Not one to take himself too seriously, the former private school headmaster, now nearly 75, rarely strays from the political path on polling day.

Mr Barber said: “I was thinking about Reform UK but then I thought that there’s no point because they won’t have any influence. But I do like Nigel Farage.”

He feels the controversy over freebies has really caught Sir Keir Starmer on the hop.

“If Labour hadn’t gone on so much about what the Tories did when they were in office and then it turns out they’ve been doing the very same thing. And I wish they would stop going on and on about the £22 billion black hole.”

He pauses and grins mischievously.

“Isn’t it just amazing how they have managed to muck it up in just a few weeks?”