If you were to picture a Tory seat, Bishop Auckland would not be it. Next to the town hall sits the Mining Gallery, a collection of artworks depicting the areas long history of coal extraction.

Its extraordinarily long high street is, like many across the country, struggling, while the rows of two-up two-down terraces behind it speak to a long working-class history. On a brisk day in October, the smell of burning coal drifts through the streets.

The constituency also covers a large rural area, with a smattering of affluent villages and breathtaking views across the North Pennines. Yet a majority of farmers here are tenants to a handful of landowners. Significant portions of it are in the top 10 or 30 per cent of the most deprived in the country.

As you might expect, then, in its 134-year history, the constituency has never been represented by a Conservative MP. Yet in 2017, the party came within 502 votes of Labour.

If after the next election there is not a Tory MP for Bishop Auckland, then it’s unlikely there will be Tory prime minister either.