Sandwell: Your guide to the General Election

But in Halesowen and Rowley Regis Tory James Morris will defend his seat in what should be a straight fight with Labour's Stephanie Peacock.

Mr Morris won the seat from Labour in 2010 with 41.2 per cent of the vote.

But UKIP's Dean Perks will be hoping to pick up a big share of the vote, in an area where the party has been actively prominent.

Transport has been a major issue with bus service cuts on main routes to Russells Hall Hospital.

This has particularly hit residents in Blackheath and Cradley Heath.

Candidates have also been campaigning on the demise of local pubs and the rise in supermarkets in their place.

And with the £380m Midland Metropolitan Hospital being given the go ahead there have also been calls to protect services at Rowley Regis Hospital.

The constituency was formed for the 1997 General Election, taking in the eastern part of the former Halesowen and Stourbridge constituency and the western part of the former Warley West seat.

The area is split with half being in Dudley and half in Sandwell.

When Mr Morris was elected in 2010 it was the first time that any part of Sandwell has ever been represented by a Conservative MP since its creation.

Ms Peacock is an ex-teacher and union official who grew up locally. She is 28 and previously worked with former MP Sylvia Heal.

West Bromwich East has been a constituency for more than 40 years and had a Labour MP for every one of them. It is considered one of the safest seats in the country.

Tom Watson, widely known beyond the Black Country as a thorn in the side of Rupert Murdoch, is once again the Labour candidate here.

The bookies are so confident he will retain it, Ladbrokes make his chances of retaining the seat 50/1 on.

UKIP's Steve Latham is considered the next most likely, at 12/1, while Ladbrokes makes Conservative Olivia Seccombe a 50/1 outsider for victory.

The Liberal Democrats are the rank outsiders for success at 100/1.

Mr Watson has been the MP since 2001 and the last time out he polled a whopping 46.5 per cent of the vote.

A major issue for residents have been plans to convert the iconic Red House in Great Barr into flats and six homes.

Campaigners failed in their bid to block the plans with councillors approving the application for the Grade II listed building in Red House Park, despite nearly 200 objections. Protesters did not want homes to be built next to the historic building and said they were 'disgusted' with the decision.

The future of the NHS is also a major issue with it being revealed the number of operations being cancelled at Sandwell and City hospitals hit a year-long high of 28 in December last year, but this since dropped to eight in January.

In total 169 were cancelled.

Of all the Black Country constituencies, Ed Miliband will feel he can rely on Warley being painted red on the post-election graphics thanks to a party veteran.

Since its creation in 1997 the seat has been occupied by political stalwart John Spellar, who first sat in the Commons back in 1982.

In the past four general elections he has seen off four different Conservative candidates with his majority never falling below 10,000 votes.

He had several ministerial roles under Tony Blair moving from Defence to Transport to Minister of State for Northern Ireland. He is also the current shadow minister of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs.

In short, the latest Conservative hopeful Tom Williams has got his work cut out to topple Mr Spellar.

Mr Williams says he got involved in politics to make a difference and has developed a 'six-point' manifesto with which to fight the battle.

There are pledges to deliver an 'in-out' referendum on Britain's membership of the EU and to secure investment in local jobs and skills.

Joining the pair on the ballot paper is UKIP's Pete Durnell who has lived in the constituency for 25 years.

He has pointed to UKIP's performance in last year council's elections as a sign of their progress in the borough.

But the challenge he is facing is reflected in UKIP holding one seat on the authority, compared to Labour's 70.

Robert Buckman is representing the Green party and has pledged to reverse austerity measures. And Cath Smith is the Liberal Democrat candidate hoping to cause an upset.

The Tories stand more of a chance in West Bromwich West, but not by much.

Labour's Adrian Bailey has been safely installed there since a by-election victory in 2000. In 2010 the Tories cut into his majority from the previous election, but even then victory was secured by a comfortable 5,651 votes.

Mr Bailey, who is Chairman of the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee in Parliament, has been outspoken on apprenticeships. In recent months he has called on the Government to do more to encourage smaller firms to offer opportunities to youngsters. It is on this basis he will be campaigning ahead of May 7.

The Conservatives have brought in fresh-faced Paul Ratner for this year's fight. If elected he has pledged to dedicate himself to raising standards in secondary schools and promoting job opportunities for school leavers.

He has launched a number of local campaigns, calling on Sandwell Council to scrap car park charges in the borough and to re-open Great Bridge car park so to regenerate its High Street.

UKIP will be represented here by Graham Eardley. He is a member of the Lichfield Diocesan Board of Patronage and politics nerds wills have seen him appear on the BBC's Sunday Politics.

Mark Redding will be on the ballot paper for the Green party, meaning for the first time the party will field candidates across the whole of Sandwell, in all four constituencies.

And Anarchist group Class War will also have a candidate in West Bromwich West in the form of Mark Lees.

Despite the range of candidates, Mr Bailey will feel pretty confident about returning the seat for Labour.