Edward, 25, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire Occupation Customer assistant at Marks & Spencer Voting record In most elections used to vote Ukip, switching to Conservative in 2019. As a party member, voted Boris Johnson for leader the same year, and spoiled his ballot in 2022. Leave in the EU referendum Amuse bouche Is very into heavy metal, “despite not being a person who talks or looks like that” Heather-Joy, 63, Haddenham, Buckinghamshire Occupation Manager of a food bank Voting record Pretty much always Liberal Democrat, except in the 1980 election when she voted Labour in Brighton to keep the Conservatives out. Remain in the EU referendum Amuse bouche Heather-Joy is a historical re-enactor and makes Tudor and Regency costumes – most recently hats for her local museum For starters Heather-Joy I had prawns and feta and chilli as a starter, then fried halloumi and chips, and then a sorbet. I’m very complicated – there’s lots of things I can’t eat. Edward I had tomato and basil soup, a dirty burger, then a chocolate bombe. We had more in common than she expected. Heather-Joy There was an awful lot that we didn’t agree about, but the things that I thought were my most extreme views – proportional representation, increasing taxes for the rich – he agreed with. The big beef Heather-Joy We definitely disagreed over Brexit, but he found it difficult to defend the fallout from it. He said it was immigration and bureaucracy that made him vote leave. I think Brexit is the worst thing that’s ever happened – I remember us joining the EU. To walk away, we walk away from European security. If we hadn’t, I’m not sure Ukraine would have happened. Brexit was a nice distraction for Europe that Putin exploited. Edward With coronavirus and the war in Ukraine – we haven’t had a chance to reflect on the benefits of Brexit. There are now three types of Brexiter: those who think the idea was good but the people who’ve done it haven’t done it well. The second have changed their minds. The third are Brexit till they die. I’m in the first group. Heather-Joy At school, we learned about the scramble for Africa, about the horrors of colonialism in the 70s. Talk about dirty diamonds – the whole country’s wealth was dirty. We can’t go back to that. So all that rubbish about “we can be greater alone” made me want to be sick. Edward In the north of England, or the rust belt in America, a combination of free trade and immigration has eroded industries. People see globalism as something that just happens, and therefore we have to embrace everything that comes with it. If it’s going to hurt people in the nation state, that should be taken into consideration. Heather-Joy I’m not sure that free trade is the answer to everything, so we agreed on that. Sharing plate Edward I was a member of Ukip before I joined the Conservative party, but I realised that because of first-past-the-post, those small parties weren’t going to get anywhere. And they’re not interested in optics, which I am: if you go outside the Overton window – the range of policies acceptable to the mainstream – you’re lost. Heather-Joy I’ve been in favour of proportional representation since 1970, when I discovered what it was at a school election: in that, Diane Abbott was standing for the Labour party, and the Liberals won. For afters Edward I like Mick Lynch because he fights for what he thinks is right. I wish the Labour party would be more supportive, rather than wishy-washy. Heather-Joy I found to my enormous surprise that we both admire Mick Lynch. Edward believes in unions. We agreed that Lynch stands up to the idiots in the soundbite media, and about the way some of the media deals with politics, that it’s largely owned by extremely rich people with an agenda. Takeaways Edward It was nice to speak to someone who has more experience than silly little old me. She didn’t change my mind, but I did learn something. Heather-Joy I probably didn’t persuade him of anything. We got kicked out at 7pm. We’d been there six hours.