‘We are backing ourselves’: Labour aims to turn tide on Tories in Essex

Party could make historic inroads in places such as Southend but many of the races look very tight

Like the water lapping the yellow sands on Southend's Jubilee beach, the county of Essex has been a sea of blue since 2010. Standing on the sands looking out towards the pier, Bayo Alaba is one of the Labour candidates hoping the tide is turning in seats such as Southend East and Rochford.

Long neglected by Labour, it is now one of the key Tory strongholds that could go red, with Alaba emblematic as a new kind of Labour candidate, a businessman and former Parachute regiment soldier who spent the D-day anniversary doing a sponsored jump for the Royal British Legion.