Agnelo Estrocio came within 333 votes of winning the borough council seat in Walcot & Park North last year.

And he said his campaign for this year’s election started almost the day after the results were counted last year in an effort to close the gap.

And spending an hour with him canvassing in and around Lennox Drive suggests he has built some name recognition, which is always useful in local elections which are won by relatively small margins.

The 34-year-old technician at Thermo Fisher Scientific said he’s been knocking on doors and speaking to people and helping them out with any issues: “People around here told me that they didn’t see a Conservative candidate for years. It wasn’t entirely abandoned, but it didn’t get much attention.

“I’ve been knocking on all the doors in the area for the whole year, and I’ve helped people with getting a blue badge, or whatever they have needed. Around here there has been a problem with the streetlights which I’ve reported and they should be being fixed in a couple of days.”

Accompanied by some local parish councillors and other borough members and candidates Mr Estrocio found a decent reception at the doors which were actually opened.

Some were closed, though politely, and some people seemed a little suspicious to be confronted by a political candidate, but there were quite a few telling him they were going to vote for him.

And in an ethnically diverse area Mr Estrocio, who is himself from the Goan community said he had a linguistic advantage: “I speak English and Konkani, the language of Goa and I also speak Hindi, so I can talk to most people.”

Slightly to my surprise Mr Estrocio is keen to knock on the door of a Labour supporter. He said: “Sometimes I get told off – but that’s part of campaigning. It’s never going to stop me getting out and knocking on doors and talking to people.”

In an hour the only poster we see is a Labour poster, but most people take his leaflet and many seem to know him and are pleased to see him.

He said: “I’ve worked hard here to help people, and I think people know me as a hard worker for them.”

As well as Mr Estrocio, Labour’s Emma Bushell, the independent candidate David Norris and Dawn Pajak for the Liberal Democrats are also standing in Walcot & Park North.

The election will be held on Thursday.