Regional publisher Johnston Press has begun its countdown to the general election with the launch of a new website showing what matters to ordinary people.

It has created What Matters to Me, a site providing an overview of local sentiment across the country on important issues, through a growing collection of short videos.

The videos are being compiled by JP journalists, who have taken to the streets to ask people what matters to them in this election campaign.

Over the coming days and weeks, hundreds more opinions will be added to the site from across the country, both within and beyond the footprint of the company.

Each video is under 30 seconds long and is tagged by the issue and location, while users have chance to ‘upvote’ or share their favourites.

Trending videos, based on the number of views, shares and upvotes, are highlighted by geography and topic also.

JP chief executive Ashley Highfield said: “I’m proud and excited to be able to announce the launch of What Matters to Me at this crucial stage in the election.

“It offers a fascinating overview of sentiment across the UK, outlining how it differs in the smallest of towns to the biggest of cities.

“But perhaps, more importantly, it shows where attitudes are the same – connecting communities not just by their location, but by what matters to them.”

What Matters to Me will feature a ‘live map’ that will continually evolve as new videos are added to show how important key issues are at different stages of the election campaigns.

Paul Napier, JP’s group editorial development director who is heading up the initiative, said: “As the election campaigns heat up, What Matters to Me will take the focus away from party politics, and shine a spotlight on the issues themselves, from the perspective of the people.

“We wanted to give real people in communities up and down the country a platform to raise these issues, as well as feel part of something bigger, and with What Matters to Me we have been successful in doing that.”