After BBC Question Time Leaders' Special was staged in York on Thursday, The Press went out and about in the city to find out what people had made of the debate.

As previously reported by The Press, the leaders' debate saw Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer, Ed Davey and John Swinney quizzed by a live audience in York, with Fiona Bruce leading the broadcast.

After the debate, Press readers voted in a poll on X saying that they thought Sir Keir performed best on the night, boasting a 59 per cent share of the vote.

On Friday, June 21, Press reporters took to the streets to find out what people in the city centre had to say.

Julie and Ralph Tomlinson spoke of how they've lost faith in the major parties (Image: Harry Booth)

Both Julie and Ralph Tomlinson, who will be voting in York Outer, said they didn't want to support either the Conservatives or Labour.

"I won't be voting. I don't trust any of them," said Julie - adding that she thinks "nothing ever gets done".

Ralph, who said he was likely to vote for the Liberal Democrats, added: "It was nice to actually see the party leaders come here last night, York usually feels forgotten by those lot.

"I won't vote for either of the big two, I think we need something different."

Thryn Henderson felt let down by the Labour Party (Image: Harry Booth)

Elsewhere, in Portal Bookshop, in Patrick Pool, 32-year-old Thryn Henderson said they felt let down by Keir Starmer's Labour Party.

Speaking on the debate, the prospective York Central voter said: "I found it very poor.

"It was wildly out of touch with the people of York."

Thryn added that both Labour and the Conservatives were largely similar, saying there's "no longer two opposing parties".

Despite praising Labour York Central candidate Rachael Maskell, Thryn said that they couldn't vote for the Labour Party in "good conscience".

John Mannion was in favour of Reform UK (Image: Harry Booth)

John Mannion, who owns a fruit and vegetable stand in the Shambles Market, was disappointed by the BBC debate. 

Voting in the York Outer constituency on July 4, he said: "I have no faith in Labour and, quite frankly, I wish [Nigel] Farage and Reform UK had got themselves sorted out before the election.

"Things are getting really critical in this country – sewage and the NHS can’t cope with migration levels.

"I’ve never seen this town so downhearted – the underwriter of the city is us tax payers."

Chris said he's likely to vote for Labour (Image: Alice Kavanagh)

City Cruises employee Chris Pegg, also of York Outer, watched the Question Time special.

"Why's Question Time in York when nobody from the audience was?" he said.

Chris said that he respected the Liberal Democrat plans to put social care back on the agenda. He also had praise for SNP leader John Swinney, saying he had "good morals", even though he didn't agree with all his policies.

Ahead of the election, Chris said that he wants to check over the manifestos of each party before making a final decision.

The latest polling from Electoral Calculus has Labour as the favourites in both York Central and York Outer. The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens and Reform UK are fielding candidates in both seats - with the Yorkshire Party standing for York Outer, and the rest of the ballot being made up by Independent candidates.