I feel a bit of a fraud writing about Feltham and Heston. By ‘bit of’ I mean ‘total’. The main thing I learned from my visit to the by-election is that Manor Place, the location of the Feltham Labour Hall and the by-election headquarters, is not the same as Manor Lane, which is where I ended up after a 45 minute walk from the station. In the time I had left, I had managed a couple of dozen phonecalls with the voters, and some chats with the campaign team. On a day’s campaigning which had seen many members of the PLP on the streets, I managed to miss them all. But I am no Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be.

My impressions then, for what it’s worth. The first is that this is Bend it Like Beckham territory. Like the communities in the movie, F&H is a mixed bag of white working class, white lower-middle, and middle-middle class (like Juliet Stevenson’s character), and Asian working and middle-class families (including many Sikhs, like the character played by Parminder Nagra). Like the rest of London, there is a vibrant mix of settled families with Caribbean heritage, alongside newer arrivals from eastern Europe, and myriad other countries.

Heathrow airport, just a couple of miles away, dominates the local jobs market.  On my long, pointless walk through Feltham, I saw bustling shops and restaurants including two branches of Nando’s, unless it was the same one twice), doing brisk pre-Christmas trade. The crowds in Feltham town centre seemed untroubled by the democratic contest in their midst. One high street shop was advertising for staff (on the national minimum wage, and just above). I missed the two things F&H is most famous for: Feltham Young Offenders’ Institution, and Heston Services between junctions 2 and 3 on the M4. For different reasons I’m glad I did.

Seema Malhotra is the perfect exemplar of the journey many local families have been on. She is a second-generation British Asian, imbued in the work ethic and ambition to succeed which characterises most families prepared to travel thousands of miles to a new country. Her family opened a shop in the area, her mother was a teacher, she went to local schools, and won a place at Warwick University. She has got on and done well, thanks to the support of her family and community, but she never lost sight of the Labour values that gave her a leg-up. That’s what Labour is all about – rewards for hard work, and a strong society which allows individuals to prosper.

But there’s something else going on. Within half a mile of the busy town centre the shops become more sparse, with more boarded up. The area is poorer than its posher neighbour Brentford & Isleworth. There are more people unemployed, more families living on the minimum wage, and a strong sense of uncertainty. The economic turmoil has hit local families hard.

There is a steady switch of votes from the Conservatives to the UKIP candidate Andrew Charalambous. The pathetic performance by the British prime minister in Europe this week will catalyse the switchers. One commentator likened David Cameron to a man who turned up to a wife-swapping party without his wife. (Now there’s a ‘The Man Who…’ HM Bateman cartoon I’d like to see).

Some people think that international conferences have little impact on the great British public. I think this one may. Seldom has a British leader looked so irrelevant and weak. Most people are sceptic about European institutions. One thing they hate more than the EU is the UK looking isolated and powerless. Thatcher wore her isolation like one of her hats: with aplomb. But actually she negotiated hard, and was prepared to compromise. For years under Labour British PMs offered real leadership on the world stage. Yet Cameron has come home with not so much a handful of magic beans, and the British people will not fail to notice. Ever since Chamberlain, the British don’t like PMs returning from international summits with false promises and empty hands.

Lord Ashcroft issued a ‘private poll’ this week which pointed to a 22 per cent Labour lead over the Tories in Feltham and Heston. You don’t need me to tell you that this was a transparent ruse to depress Labour’s turnout. If people think the result is a shoo-in for Labour, they’re less likely to turn out on a bitter cold night next Thursday. The proper response is of course a leaflet, with a barchart showing how close it is between Labour and the Tories, and how the Lib Dems can’t win here. Perhaps a graphic of two horses to illustrate the point. I hope, even only for the sake of political humour, someone at the heart of the campaign is planning one for next week.

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Paul Richards is a former special adviser and writes a weekly column for Progress, Paul’s week in politics

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Photo: Dominic Campbell