Wirral West: The Merseyside battleground in the 2024 General Election
The Labour stronghold of Merseyside might not be an obvious target for the Conservatives in the General Election, but the seat of Wirral West doesn't always drum to the same beat as the rest of the county.
Lying on the salubrious banks of the River Dee, rather than the Mersey, the constituency is fifth on the Tories' target list.
Since it was created in 1983, the seat has switched between Labour and the Conservatives a number of times.
The electorate of 72,000 people will definitely be getting a new MP after the Labour's Margaret Greenwood decided not to stand this time around.
She won by 3,000 in the 2019 election, and defeated the sitting Conservative MP Esther McVey by just 500 votes in 2010.
To get a taste of what's on people's minds as the general election looms, I visit a PopCats Music Time class in the beachside town of West Kirby.
While the early years children were busy having fun singing and dancing, their parents and grandparents have some pressing issues on their minds.
Local mum Anna Ghader and her three-and-a-half month old daughter Alma are here for the first time.
She said her main concern is the education system is broken. She quit her job as a primary school teacher two years ago and was one of seven to leave.
She said teachers need more help and believes that comes only through more funding.
"If I was a teacher and I was just able to teach, my life would be so much easier, but I was more of a social worker," she says.
"So how can I teach a child how to write if they have don't even speak or they can't use the toilet properly?
"I can't see myself in the classroom for a long time."
First-time dad Adam Burkett also lives in West Kirby and is worried about the cost of living.
The teaching assistant has had to go part-time because he can’t afford childcare for his five-month old son George.
He said: "At the school I work in we have a social shop. I see staff members using it because we have to because we're not paid enough. And that's not just support staff, it's the teachers."
Les Broadbere from Meols has brought with granddaughter Penny, two great nieces and her sister in law to the session.
"This country just feels a bit broken really," she tells me.
"What do we need? More police, more GP appointments that we can get to. And it's just that personal care of knowing your own family doctor like you used to years ago."
Lindsay Mickel from West Kirby has been trying to find an NHS dentist for her and her five month old son Jack.
She said she has been trying to get on a waiting list for two years and has had to go private for treatment.
"There was a local place offered to me [13 miles away] in Bootle.
"When I rang up to speak to them about it, it was taken away because there was someone who nabbed the spot."
PopCats Music Time leader Jemma Durston runs the session.
She said, "It is like a toxic environment in schools. We have 20 Popcats leaders, 18 of us are qualified teachers but have left because of the stress."
Boundary changes mean the shape of the constituency has also evolved, with the abolition of neighbouring Wirral South.
The council ward of Clatterbridge, small villages like Thornton Hough, Brimstage, and Raby as well as Heswall, a town that has always voted Conservative in council elections, will become part of the reshaped seat.
This means most of rural Wirral with its country lanes and farmers fields is now voting for the same MP.
Places like Woodchurch can feel like a forgotten corner of the patch.
The estate is possibly more aligned with Birkenhead, but voters here will have just as much say about their future MP as those in the more well-to-do suburbs flanking the river.
Figures from the Department for Work and pensions and the Office of National Statistics say 30% of children in Woodchurch were living in poverty in 2022/23, compared to 20% across the country.
Jeff Povall is a lifelong Labour voter who feels the divide.
"West Kirby, Heswall, if they want something they get it done.
"The likes of Birkenhead, Woodchurch and other estates around, the money doesn't get spent."
Bernard Hughes has lived on the Woodchurch estate for 30 years.
He tells me that the recent closure of the estate's leisure centre, which he describes as "lovely swimming baths", was a blow to the community.
"My girls, I have three daughters, all learnt to swim in there," he says. "Then our beloved council went and closed it for some reason."
In the Woodchurch pub, customer Richie Quayle is vocal about an issue on the minds of many of the regulars - immigration.
"There's not one of [the politicians] who will stand up and have got a backbone and say, enough's enough," he says.
"There's too many coming in.
"I'm not prejudiced by any means. People will probably say I am, but I'm not. But there's just too many coming in."
The ancient settlement of Thornton Hough is now a picturesque village once owned by the founder of Lever Brothers, the predecessor to consumer goods firm Unilever.
Villagers recently fought against plans for new housing on the green belt.
Environmental issues remain important here.
"I like nature," says passerby Glynne Owen from Spital who is out for a walk.
"I love caring for what we have in this country, which is a lot of beautiful natural parks and lovely woodlands. And I think personally that's the only thing I really care about."
Natalie Reeves Billing, an author and community business owner, lives in the village.
"Climate change has got to be on the agenda," she tells me. "You can't get away from it."
"I feel like that is the single biggest thing that affects us all."
The following candidates have been announced for Wirral West:
Ken Ferguson (Reform UK)
Gail Jenkinson (Green)
Jenny Johnson (Conservative)
Matt Patrick (Labour)
Peter Reisdorf (Liberal Democrat)
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