'It's near impossible to live in Surrey on a normal wage'

"It's near impossible to live here [Surrey] if you're on a normal wage, an average wage." Joanna Hayward is a teaching assistant, a vital cog in University for the Creative Arts' (UCA) artistic machine, who works with artists, designers, architects and just about anybody else who needs help at one of the UK's leading creative universities.

Joanna was the first of her family to go to university and would seem to believe in the old Thatcherite equation of guts plus graft equals opportunity, but the maths does not stack up in Surrey. The 30 year-old said: "I can't afford to live here at all, so I live an hour away and I have to drive in every day. Which is fine, I'm quite used to it, but a lot of people I know who work here live in London and I have no idea how they can afford that."

The UCA Farnham is home to some of Surrey's brightest creatives, with polling day looming we asked staff and students about the realities of being able to afford to live and work in the county and the key issues that will be driving their votes.

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Surrey is one of the most affluent counties in the country, but with the money comes high prices and the cost-of-living crisis even lead former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to protest £100,000 is "not a huge salary." In a report by Surrey County Council, the county has the worst affordability ratio in England and the lowest paid 10 per cent of residents, in full-time employment, earn a mere 10p above the real living wage (£12 an hour).

Arts and culture are big business in the UK, with the government estimating creative industries generated £126bn in gross value added (GVA) to the economy and employed 2.4 million people in 2022. According to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the largest regional contributions to the local economy by creative industries were in London and the South East, where the sector contributed 12.2% and 6.0% of regional GVA respectively.

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Despite this value, pay in creative industries has been traditionally low and access has become harder for many. In 2022, a paper using data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), highlighted, "low pay and precarious work, even when mixed with autonomy, job satisfaction and the potential for prospective financial reward, are obvious barriers to access for those without economic support."

Recognised by the Game Awards and BAFTA for her talent and contribution to video gaming industry, Sally Sheppard agreed with Joanna's assessment of the cost of living and working in Surrey. Pointing to the housing market, Sally commented: "I predominantly work in the south of England, so I've worked in London, I've worked in Surrey and I'm still renting now at, I don't want to say my age!"

The award winning lecturer, studio founder and director added: "I think the prospects of being able to get onto the housing market just look awful."

With the general election on Thursday, July 4, we asked UCA Farnham's staff and students if anything had changed their opinions over the past six weeks. Chloe Edwards said: "Honestly, I think I've remained pretty constant with my opinions and who I'm voting for."

The 23-year-old actor and London native pointed to knife crime as the most important issue this election and she was generally supportive of Rishi Sunak. The same could not be said for Charlie Skinner, whose opinion has changed for the worse on Sunak.

"Not saying it was a good one in the first place, but it's worsened even further," stated the Games Development graduate, who wants to prevent the privatisation of the NHS. Charlie, 21, said: "I have medical issues that require me to have GP appointments every six months and, if the NHS were to be privatised, it would be much more difficult to afford it."

Although far from supportive of Sir Keir Starmer, respondents thought he deserved a chance to prove himself. Actor Ben Greenstreet said: "I know less about Keir Starmer. I think what he's done with the Labour Party is very impressive; the way he's dug it out and brought it back up to where it was in recent years is impressive. But, I think anyone compared to Rishi Sunak is a better option."

Farnham stands in the newly created seat of Farnham and Bordon, which was carved out of South West Surrey and East Hampshire. Both seats were born and died Tory blue, but YouGov forecasts the seat to be a toss-up between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats this election.

Although YouGov leans towards Farnham and Bordon being a Tory hold, Conservative majorities weakened in both East Hampshire and South West Surrey in 2019. In East Hampshire, the 2015 majority of 25,852 decreased to 19,696 and in South West Surrey Jeremy Hunt's 2015 majority of 21,590 plummeted to just under nine thousand.

With polls such as the Economist's projecting Labour to capture the support of most millennials and zoomers, the absence of the majority of UCA's students this summer will be a bonus for the Conservatives.

The Farnham and Bordon candidates are:

• Ged Hall (Reform UK)

• Don Jerrard (Hampshire Independents)

• Alex Just (Labour)

• Claire Matthes (Green)

• Greg Stafford (Conservative)

• Khalil Yousuf (Liberal Democrat)

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