UKIP opens campaign office in Wolverhampton city centre

The party has set up a base in School Street as it tries to win over voters in the General Election in the city and in neighbouring South Staffordshire.

And it said it would be fielding candidates in every council ward in the city and the district for the elections on May 7.

The two-storey space will also serve as a 'satellite' office for West Midlands MEP Bill Etheridge.

It was being advertised with a rent of £17,500 a year. But UKIP said it had 'got a good deal' and was funding the office through donations to party funds.

Dave Everett, UKIP's candidate for Wolverhampton South West, said: "We've got to take politics back to the people. We're showing and proving what we say. We're coming to meet people and we're available to help them."

He said the party was committed to seeing Wolverhampton regenerated.

According to retail experts, the city centre is in desperate need of more restaurants and is missing 25 of the top 100 national shopping brands such as Superdry, Monsoon and Laura Ashley.

It currently has 17 per cent of shops empty – while the national average is 10.6 per cent.

Mr Etheridge said the party was campaigning at a grass roots level.

He said: "We've done this all over the country and it is working. We're not hiding ourselves away. We're in the city centre, where people know they can come and ask us anything."

Wolverhampton South West is one of the most marginal seats in the country and is held by Conservative Paul Uppal with a majority of just 691. Wolverhampton North East is likely to stay with a Labour MP as is Wolverhampton South East. UKIP has a tough task in South Staffordshire which is considered safe for the Conservatives.

UKIP currently has just one councillor in Wolverhampton, former mayor Malcolm Gwinnett, who defected from the Liberal Democrats before winning re-election with his new party last year.

Labour has the overwhelming majority of the seats on the city council, 46 out of 60. The Conservatives have 11 and the Lib Dems have two. Labour has been increasing its lead annually since 2010.

each year since it seized back control of the authority in 2010 following two and a half years of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat alliance.

The Conservatives suffered last year as UKIP split the vote in many wards.

It meant UKIP came second in 17 out of 19 areas in the city, pushing the Conservatives and Labour into third place in wards where the other party won.