'Why should I bother going to my local school to vote?'

West Kirby has attracted day-trippers from Liverpool for decades

Regarded as one of Merseyside's most affluent areas, the Wirral West constituency is home to some of north-west England's most expensive properties.

It’s a place favoured by famous ex-footballers, some of whom are occasionally spotted on the fairway at the Royal Liverpool golf course in Hoylake.

Boundary changes have altered Wirral West’s social mix for this general election - the constituency now takes in swathes of rural areas, as well as the upmarket town of Heswall, and the Woodchurch estate.

Matt Martin has run the Green Onions café in the coastal town of West Kirby for 10 years.

He said the pandemic had hit businesses like his very hard.

Mr Martin said he really craved economic stability from whomever ends up in power after next week's general election.

"I am thinking about who might come in and give us a boost," he said, adding that, despite the apparent affluence of the area, "people here are still struggling".

Hoylake is one of the North West's most affluent areas

About five miles across the peninsula in Woodchurch, Matt Gibbs runs the Carrbridge Community Centre.

He thinks the area sometimes struggles to establish its own identity - "the underlying feeling is we are neither here nor there, caught between West Wirral and Birkenhead.

"On some days it might be ‘Oooh, we live in leafy, posh West Wirral’, and on other days it might be ‘Oh, we’re in Birkenhead and there are problems here’ - so how do you marry that together?"

He is worried that disaffection with local politics might put people off voting on 4 July.

"We’ve got the Euros, which is a massive distraction. People might feel, 'why should I bother going to my local school to vote for someone when they are all going to be the same?'"

Yoga business owners Steve and Paul Smith, with (downward) dog

For many years, Wirral West was a "bellwether" seat – an indicator for which way the political wind was blowing across the country.

Margaret Greenwood, who bucked the national trend to win the seat for Labour from Conservative Esther McVey in 2015, is not standing this time around, so whichever party wins, the constituency will have a new MP.

Paul and Steve Smith run a yoga business in West Kirby.

Paul said he felt the NHS should be a priority for the next government.

"I recently ended up in A&E and waited over seven hours," he said. "People sat there, hungry and thirsty – it was awful."

Meanwhile, Steve said: “Waiting lists are too long for SEN diagnoses, which means children aren’t able to access the right support and education."

He also said he wanted water companies and other utilities to be brought under public ownership.

Rachel Lightburn thinks social care provision is a huge issue at this election

Also from West Kirby, Rachel Lightburn said social care was her biggest priority during this election campaign, since both her grandmothers had lived in care homes.

She said the whole issue "had been featured so little during this campaign".

"It’s too difficult for political parties to try and address, so they avoid it."

Ms Lightburn thinks too many care home operators focus on making a profit rather than on delivering high-quality care.

“Covid showed us the crisis going on in our care homes, and they still haven’t addressed it."

Finally, Lewis Quail from Heswall added crime to the list of voters' concerns.

"As summer progresses you notice low-level crime," he said.

"There have been quite a few dispersal zones introduced – I don’t know if they’ve worked – but you notice it when you take the dog for a walk."