Building has assembled a panel of five industry figures, and each week we will interview them to find out what they think of the parties’ campaigns and who is the frontrunner to secure their vote. Interviews by Eleanor Snow

Who are you and what do you do?

Georgia Elliott-Smith, director of environmental and sustainable building consultancy Element 4.

Which way are you going to vote?

Probably Labour, but I’m not utterly convinced.

What in the campaign could change you mind?

My big concerns are to do with the environment and sustainability and the Lib Dems have been making some positive noises on both, so I could be persuaded to vote for them. There’s no chance I’d vote Tory.

What are the key things you’re looking for?

Besides sound environmental policies, I’d like to see more equality for women on issues such as maternity leave.

Who are you and what do you do?

John Cowell (brother of Simon), managing director of construction consultancy Cowellco

Which way are you going to vote?

I intend to vote Labour.

What in the campaign could change you mind?

I’m not sure that anything would. I am not entirely enamoured with Labour’s track record. But as a cynic and a pragmatist, I can’t see the Tory’s doing one iota better. Howard comes across as a desperate and unprincipled man and his team are invisible – thankfully. If the Tories can persuade me to vote for them that would be a real marketing coup.

What are the key things you’re looking for?

Inevitably I have a construction bias and subscribe to the feeling we always benefit from a Labour government. But I would not want to see a future Labour government increasing taxes to the point where we lose our recent enthusiasm to make money. We need it for our old age.

It would also be good for Labour to get some of the smaller details right – better food, good design, less yobbishness, cleaner streets.


Who are you and what do you do?

Roger Feast, chairman of construction company McLaren.

Which way are you going to vote?

Conservative.

What in the campaign could change you mind?

I doubt anything would. I wouldn’t vote Labour because I don’t like their policies, particularly on raising taxes through the backdoor. Plus Tony Blair will say almost anything to suit the changing weather. I like straight talkers.

What are the key things you’re looking for?

We currently live in a nanny state with too many regulations and I want to see an end to it. We have too many managers in areas such as the NHS and police, rather than nurses on the wards and officers on the street, as there is so much paperwork.

Who are you and what do you do?

David Chisholm, managing director of architects John Thompson and Partners.

Which way are you going to vote?

I expect to vote Labour, as I have done for nearly 40 years. In doing so I like to think I am considering what is best for the country as a whole and not just acting out of self interest.

What in the campaign could change you mind?

In this particular election, it would be even more difficult to consider voting any other way as the Labour candidate to succeed Brian Sedgemore in my Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency is ex-GLA member Meg Hillier, who has a background in social housing. However, I did read Respect’s election material with some interest.

What are the key things you’re looking for?

I resent the Conservative’s presumption that people like me want to pay less tax. I’m not concerned about the amount of tax I pay but how it is used. I want to see more money spent on public services, not less, and greater investment in initiatives such as Surestart that help the less well-off. I find the Conservative’s “Are you thinking what we’re thinking?” poster campaign repugnant and am thinking of buying a case of aerosol sprays to provide them with answers. In terms of the eventual outcome I would like to see an even smaller number of Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats being in a better position to influence Labour policies.

Who you are and what you do?

Alice Vickers, package manager, Carillion Building. I control sections of work in terms of management of safety, subcontractors, design changes and sequencing.

Which way you you’re planning to vote?

I’m not certain whether I will vote. I am completely disenchanted with politics, as I feel are many people of my generation. I cannot vote Labour, as I completely mistrust Tony Blair after he mislead us about the Iraq war and his party’s continual broken promises, but I don’t see the Conservatives being an effective alternative. Michael Howard seems to have slipped into a weak dribble of empty promises.

What in the campaign could change your mind?

Very hard to say. Whatever is said I tend to take with a pinch of salt. I would prefer the election to be called the day before we go to poll as I find the month-long campaigning excruciating. Policies are usually promised but very rarely materialise.

What key things are you looking for?

Mainly for a political party to ensure the correct funds are available for an education system that allowed teachers to teach proper subjects and challenge young minds and to see a police force that can police and not be crippled by staff shortages and form-filling.

In many areas, social decline is far reaching largely because of there not being enough emphasis placed on discipline and respect. Proper education and policing are, in my mind, at the heart of this and it should now be up to the government to govern the people, and not concentrate on smear campaigns and egotistical vote-catching.