Election 2015: The battleground in the North West of England

With 72 constituencies up for grabs, capturing the hearts, minds and votes of people in the North West will be vital for whoever wants to be prime minister after the general election, and also for anybody wanting a seat around the Cabinet table.

Most of the attention will be focussed on the 27 marginal seats in the region which could change hands on 7 May - that's where at least two parties will be strongly fancying their chances.

The BBC's North West political editor Arif Ansari reports.