“In that scenario, as a candidate, you just have to fight, meet as many people as you can, talk to as many people as you possibly can. In my perspective, just be really positive, [and say] ‘this is what the council is doing, if you’re happy with it, absolutely carry on voting for them. If you want change, this is what I would do differently.’”
He, like many of his Lib Dem rivals, is using his local edge to try to combat rampant despondency about the national state of play.
Cynicism toward politics is “a big barrier for everyone voting for anyone,” Cope acknowledges.
But he adds: “It’s why I feel like I have a bit of an advantage in my campaign. I’ve been around quite a long time. I live in my area, and I’ve kind of been involved in all the different projects. So when I come up against that cynicism, I can go, ‘I managed to get a bridge at Walton station. I managed to get disabled access. That’s a very tangible thing that we can point to … you can cut through that cynicism.’”
The coffee, in an area where both Conservative and Lib Dem placards are on display, gets interrupted twice: once by a lolopping golden retriever and once by a lady who — in a surprisingly polite tone — points to Cope’s campaign literature and says: “You are not welcome here.” Neither expands on the interruptions.
Andrew McDonald contributed to this report.