We visited West Midlands swing seats and this is what we found

There are some constituencies where it really matters. Some seats in the shires are always Conservative, some inner-city seats forever red - elections tend to be decided in swing seats.

The 2024 General Election looks like it might be the swingiest of elections. Last time, the Red Wall famously went blue aas people discarded Labour to vote for Boris Johnson, this time, pollsters are expecting the majority to go back - and many, many, others.

With that in mind, I headed out to some of the swing constituencies across the West Midlands asking the general public questions about the upcoming general election.

Read more: I visited leafy area that seems to be thriving

Throughout the West Midlands some consistuencies have shown fluctuating support between both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. I visited Wolverhampton South West, Willenhall and Walsall - all of which have flitted between the two parties - to find out what they had to say.

I was taken aback. What I witnessed was a lot of anger on topics such as the NHS and cost of living. People felt they weren't getting the support they expected.

Then there was immigration. Nothing gets people angry like immigration, and it was a routine response in the swing seats. Interestingly, it was often more of an issue in places with lower diversity, such as Stafford.

It's hard to reflect on what I didn't hear but one that springs to mind is tax. Tax is central to the Conservative message - but when I headed to swing seats, it never really came up

Here is what people had to say in more detail:

Wolverhampton South West

Bob Watson, 76 told BirminghamLive about the current situation with the NHS and said they are struggling "desperately". He said: ''The people in the NHS are brilliant and absolutely fantastic but they are not helped they are just being swamped by the number of people.

"It needs a different management style and more money putting in.''

Punvir Cheema in his 20s works in a corner shop just outside of the city centre and raised concerns about people not having enough to survive due to the cost of living crisis. He said: ''I see day to day in the shop people struggling to get by and no one is out there helping."

Punvir emphasised the need for more youth clubs and jobs for people in the area. On the choice between the Labour and Conservative leaders, he said: "Neither politicians are good, but I wouldn't vote Tory even if I was paid to."

Willenhall

Suzanne Ferguson a local resident in Willenhall said she would like to see more improvement in her hometown. She said: ''The state of Willenhall these days is disgusting there is so much fly-tipping and homeless people you just don't feel safe to walk around and that's day or night.''

She added: "This was a beautiful town years ago, we used to have a full market, and there were more shops but now it stinks and I just can't see why people want to come here.''

Suzanne told BirminghamLive she didn't like either politicians but said Rishi Sunak is the 'better of the two evils'.

However, John 66 had differing views, he said ''Definitely public services, we need them and they are not very good at the moment.''

Walsall

In Walsall Mick Bell, 77, did not mince his words when it came to discussing immigration, he said ''For me it is illegal immigration, crossing the channel and paying France so much money for nothing''.

When asked, Mick's perspective on Sir Keir Starmer, was 'weak, false and harmful' whilst he showed optimism with Rishi Sunak saying he 'tries hard'.

Paul, 62, told BirminghamLive that immigration is a big part of what is wrong with the country. He said: ''It's all the extra resources when your kids can't get properties and you have all these other people coming in and then they are putting them in properties''.

He added: ''It's also the strain on the NHS, and education so immigration is the big thing''.

Paul described Sir Keir Starmer as 'boring boring boring' and said Rishi Sunak was 'out of touch'.