The big question: how will Brighton Pavilion vote on the 6th?

On Saturday 1 May in the parliamentary electorate of Brighton Pavilion, covering the town centre and stretching back in a funnel shape to the Downs at Devil's Dyke in the west and Sussex university in the east, three community correspondents headed out to the sunny streets to gauge the feelings of voters in Coldean, Patcham and Hanover.

The electorate is unique in the country and was the focus of canvassers and campaigning from across the four main parties, Labour, Conservative, Liberal-Democrat, and, in this seat, the Green Party. The four parties are all fielding female candidates, and the only thing that is certain, is that on 6 May Brighton Pavilion will send its first woman to Westminster since the seat was created in 1950.

Outside the Hikers' Rest, in the Labour stronghold of Coldean, we met Lianna Etkind, Sam Page and Bryn Tittle, canvassing for votes for Green Party leader, Dr Caroline Lucas. Sam had travelled all the way from Marlborough in Wiltshire to try and win the Green's first seat in Westminster. She said "it's an exciting time for Brighton."

Enjoying the sun in his front garden, Trevor Woods, of Hawkhurst Road in Coldean, will be voting for Labour's Nancy Platt. He said "she is enthusiastic and dedicated" and he has met her canvassing in the electorate and flies her poster in his window. A long-time Coldean resident, Mr Woods is a member of the local action team and the residents association, and he has been happy with the performance of outgoing MP David Lepper, who took action for the residents and worked for this suburban community, who are often ignored in Brighton where the focus tends to be on the centre of the town.

Although he didn't watch the leaders' debates, he told us that he felt Gordon Brown was working on the banking mess, which is slowly getting better, while the other parties would make things worse. Mr Woods said, "it's better the devil you know."

Across the road geographically and politically, Mr Woods’ neighbour, Gordon Bonwick, tells us he’s backing Charlotte Vere, the Conservative candidate. He talked about the issues that are important to him, notably the NHS and our education system. On a local level, he wanted to see more traffic calming in force in his area, to make the roads safer. He did watch the leaders debates and although clearly impressed with Nick Clegg, it was not enough to sway him from supporting David Cameron.

We moved on to Patcham, the traditionally Conservative avenues bordering the Downs, where we met John and Jo Mills outside the Ladies Mile public house on Mackie Avenue. The pair of them were fed up with politics and didn't watch the leaders' debates, although they certainly plan to vote on Thursday. Mr Mills said "I wouldn't vote for Cameron for a million pounds" as he doesn't trust him and the pair will be voting for Labour.

By contrast, Philip Gower, 41, also a resident of Patcham, will be voting Tory. Mr Gower feels they are the best choice for sorting the economy out. He watched the leaders debates, “It was good to see them actually stand up and express their views on telly and see how they performed all together in the same room having a live debate.“. Rachel Childs, a mother with a 5 year old son, is also casting her ballot for Conservative candidate. She’s concerned with education and backs David Cameron’s pledge to reduce class sizes giving the teachers more one on one time with students. At the bus stop, we speak to Maggie, another Conservative supporter who assertively declares: “They’re the best party, for the best people.”. She continues ‘’My concerns are tackling immigration and people on the dole who will not work when they’re able to work.”.

We finished the day on the steep rises of Southover Street, in the newest part of the electorate (this area has moved in to Brighton Pavilion since the 2005 election, while areas of Queens Park have moved into the Brighton Kemptown electorate). Georgina Manover is still undecided on how she will vote on Thursday, but she is leaning towards the Greens. She described the leaders' debates as "car-crash TV that was very hard to watch."

Ms Manover saw the main national issue as the economic recovery. "Labour will do a better job (with the economy)" she said, but her vote for the Greens would be a tactical one to prevent the Conservative candidate winning the seat, as she isn't convinced by their cost-cutting programmes that seem to be shifting social responsibilities away from the government and on to charities and volunteers. She said "Brighton has huge amounts of deprivation, drugs and homelessness for a city of this size" and money to address these issues would be a factor in her decision.

Approaching the bottom of the hill, a sea of yellow is darting across Coleman Street; they are canvassers for the Liberal Democrats and the parliamentary candidate, Bernie Milam is in Famous Moe’s having some pizza. Hyder Khalil is armed with flyers and diligently dropping them through people’s doors. “Would you like to speak to her?“. We decline and explain this report is about Brighton Pavilion voters and how they feel.

This 2010 election could possibly generate strong voter turn out for Brighton Pavilion as the contest is that close. It’s set to make history one way or another and we have to wait till Thursday to find out.