Sitting on a park bench on the village green, the two ladies are genuinely “perplexed”.

Not only do they not know whether they will vote, they don’t know for whom who they will vote.

“Perplexed. Yes, that’s the correct word for it,” Andrea says, with Jane nodding.

The village of Low Bradfield is deep into ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ territory.

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In a valley at the edge of the Peak District, it attracts walkers from all over the country.

It’s part of the Sheffield Hallam constituency, which is taking on an added significance in the UK general election.

This is one of the vital Labour seats the pollsters say is now a three-way marginal in this election, meaning it’s a rare seat up for grabs between Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems. A seat like this is going to be a vital win for any of the three main parties and will probably reflect the national swing.

It was the site of a massive shock two years ago when former deputy prime minister and Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg lost his seat to a young unknown called Jared O’Mara. It was Labour’s first victory here since the constituency was created in 1885.

O’Mara is not standing after getting into a spot of bother over alleged misogynistic and homophobic comments.

Suspended by Labour, he quit the party and is departing the scene.

The geographically large constituency takes in a chunk of the city and then comes out to Yorkshire Dales villages.

The turnout here is usually among the highest in the country, owing in part to the university and the well-­educated residents in the affluent suburbs.

This is not a downtrodden Yorkshire coal or steel community.

Dressed in a cap and long coat, local man Philip Baldwin emerges from the post office with a large two-litre bottle of milk.

He’s a Conservative voter, despite his opinion of the party leader.

“Boris is of questionable integrity. That can be helpful. A typical Etonian, he has all the answers on Brexit.

“My wife believes Jeremy Corbyn is going to win. He’ll bring the ‘New Jerusalem’ at somebody else’s expense. We’re the ones who’ll be paying,” he says.

He acknowledges the importance of the constituency in the national make-up, but senses the turnout will be muted.

“I would think a lot of people are utterly cynical at this stage,” he says.

“Voting and democracy is important. People fought and died for it.”

Philip feels Brexit has dragged on so long it’s beginning to resemble the duration of a war.

“We’re in 1917 and people are getting tired of it,” he says.

But he also feels Brexit will bring up questions about the union and Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom.

Living in London during the Troubles, he says he was utterly opposed to the IRA and supported any and all measures employed by the British government at the time to deal with the violence.

In a post-peace process and mid-Brexit era, he has firm views on Northern Ireland’s future.

“It’s not right there should be a partition in Ireland,” he adds.

“It’s up to Éire now to come forward with its proposals for reunification.”

He points to the cost of Northern Ireland and proposes a relocation grant to help unionists who don’t want to live in a united Ireland, allowing them to move to Scotland.

His views on the DUP have not been helped by its antics over the Brexit votes.

Back to the ladies having a coffee on the village green.

They decline to give their surnames, appearing concerned their views and photograph will end up “on Facebook”, rather than an Irish newspaper.

Jane isn’t sure how she will vote yet, but it won’t be Labour.

“Certainly not for Corbyn. A number of people I know are voting strategically,” she says.

“They are going to vote for the party who will stop Labour in their constituency.”

On the other hand, Boris Johnson passes their test.

“I quite like him. He makes me chuckle,” Andrea says.

“He’s a bit more … credible. But he needs a new suit and a haircut,” Jane adds.

Andrea reckons she’d be a Lib Dems voter, but isn’t sure she’ll be voting.

“I’m flying to Germany that night and have to attend a nativity play. I’ll see if I have time. It’s not on the top of my agenda.”

It’s this kind of talk that has the pollsters nervous – middle-class voters staying away and delivering an unpredicted result.

After calling it wrong on Brexit in 2016 and a Tory majority for Theresa May in 2017, the polling companies are on their third strike.

A result against the polls will see their credibility shot.

The polls are showing the Tories having a lead of anything between six and 15 points.

It’s a broad range that puts Johnson anywhere from in power with another hung parliament or with a significant majority.

The prime minister is spending the closing days of the campaign touring marginal Labour seats talking about migration and telling them to ‘get Brexit done’.

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