South Staffordshire: Your guide to the General Election

Labour's Kevin McElduff will try for a second time to do the seemingly impossible and unseat Mr Williamson, who entered Parliament for the first time in 2010.

Lord Cormack held the seat from 1983 when it was created, and the Tory vote has never fallen below 50 per cent in any of the seven elections.

The constituency wraps around the north of Wolverhampton and the western flank of the city down to Kinver.

In 2010, Mr Williamson's majority was 16,590. He was made Private Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and his main roles are to advise him on the feelings of party members as well as prepare him for Prime Minister's Questions each Wednesday.

Major issues have included plans for new gipsy/traveller pitches. South Staffordshire Council says there is a need for 33 new pitches between now and 2028.

Sites have been earmarked in Hobnock Road, Broad Lane and Long Lane in Essington as well as Middlehill in Shareshill, another in Ball Lane, Coven Heath as well as a site at Glenside, Dark Lane, Slade Heath.

There has also been controversy over plans for four crematoriums in Essington, Perton, Wergs and Hatherton. All four schemes have been refused locally, but appeals are a possibility.

Extra funding for secondary schools has also been highlighted as a top issue. The constituency is also home to three prisons – Brinsford, Featherstone and Oakwood.

They are major sources of employment in the area, but all three have suffered problems over the last few years.

Another controversial issue is plans for a link road between the M6, M6 Toll and the M54.

Traffic heading for the M6 north and M6 Toll currently diverts at the M54 J1 onto the A460, past Featherstone and Shareshill and then through M6 junction 11, causing delays and congestion and various other safety issues.

The Highways Agency has revealed three route options.

Option A is the cheapest and would put a 1.5 mile link road between the M54 junction 1 Featherstone and M6 junction 11 Cannock/Wolverhampton, bypassing the villages of Featherstone and Shareshill.

Option B comes in with the biggest bill would provide a new road between M54 Junction 1 and the M6 and M6 Toll, which would then link directly with the M6, north of junction 11 and with the M6 Toll at junction T8. The link would follow the same route as Option A, bypassing the villages of Featherstone and Shareshill, and be sited to the west of Hilton Hall.The additional link would take the roads total length to approximately 2.2 miles.

Option C would widen the M54 from Junction 1 to the M6, providing extra capacity through one additional traffic lane in each direction.

New slip roads would be constructed at M6 junction 10a for Wolverhampton and Telford M54 to provide links to and from the M6 north and the A460 would cross the M6 on a new bridge, linking in to the A462 and Wolverhampton Road, with a new local road provided to Saredon Road for local destinations north or east.

Last time round UKIP polled 5.5 per cent of the vote. The party's candidate Lyndon Jones will be hoping to push his party into double figures.

Voters are predominantly Conservative across the sparsely populated constituency but there is a large Labour stronghold around Cheslyn Hay and Great Wyrley.

Mr Williamson has vowed to support manufacturing by creating more jobs and apprenticeships, as well as backing rural businesses and village centres.

He also was involved in the EU Referendum Bill.

He said: "I will fight for fairer funding and investment for schools to give our children the best start in life. I was involved in the EU Referendum Bill and I will continue to push for EU reform and a reduction in immigration."

Mr McElduff says he is concerned about GP services. He said: "Our doctors work hard but the changes to primary care and the crisis in A&E services is putting general practice under huge pressure. For all of us and for older people in particular this is a real local problem."

Mr Jones, as you would expect wants to leave the EU but is also concerned about the green belt: "I oppose the current policy of building major housing estates on green belt land. It is UKIP policy to give local people a referendum on major developments planned in their areas."

Claire McIlvenna, the Green Party candidate, said: "I have a particular interest in climate change and promoting mitigation and adaption strategies to address the current dilemma our planet faces."