Staffordshire South
Conservative hold

The Conservatives' one safe seat in Staffordshire is this rather suburban seat in the south west of the county, which has no large or widely recognised towns, but rather a series of owner occupied and mainly middle class communities like Wombourne, Perton, Great Wyrley, Codsall and Brewood. This is terrain for residents of neat and tidy newish private estates, between the West Midlands conurbation and the true countryside, 99pc white and exactly 50pc Conservative, which puts in in the top tenth of Conservatism.

Sir Patrick Cormack, first elected in 1970 (when he despatched Nye Bevan's widow, Jennie Lee, to the House of Lords), has the gratifying knowledge that after the election only one other Tory - Sir Peter Tapsell - will have served longer as a Member of (as he daintily pronounces it) 'Parl-y-a-ment.' An orotund and rather splendidly Trollopian figure, who has fashioned a fruity-voiced, disdainful persona out of a Grimsby (born 1939) childhood and a Hull University education, he has been dubbed variously as "a man of such majesty that even colleagues do not always appreciate how majestic he is" (Matthew Parris), and as one "whose frock-coated presence has lent tone to many a St Margaret's memorial service" (Sir Julian Critchley). He has nonetheless a record as a 'One Nation' rebel against Thatcher on the poll tax, dole cuts, GLC abolition, and eye and dental check charges, even if he voted first for Lilley in 1997, and only thereafter for Clarke.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 26.05% 14.99% 173.75 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.67% 2.13% 31.54 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 0.34% 2.49% 13.67 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 12.40% 4.43% 280.14 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 17.92% 7.27% 246.34 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.64% 2.56% 25.10 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.00% 2.04% 0.00 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.00% 3.94% 0.00 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 18.16% 13.04% 139.25 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 8.96% 12.70% 70.53 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 8.05% 8.14% 98.90 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 0.01% 4.02% 0.32 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 1.84% 3.19% 57.91 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 4.56% 11.31% 40.28 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.40% 3.06% 13.01 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 0.00% 2.52% 0.00 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.00% 0.06% 0.00

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 7.44% 9.41% 79.09 £5-10K 14.02% 16.63% 84.32 £10-15K 15.29% 16.58% 92.22 £15-20K 13.55% 13.58% 99.72 £20-25K 11.02% 10.39% 105.98 £25-30K 8.62% 7.77% 110.86 £30-35K 6.63% 5.79% 114.48 £35-40K 5.07% 4.33% 117.02 £40-45K 3.88% 3.27% 118.70 £45-50K 2.97% 2.48% 119.70 £50-55K 2.29% 1.90% 120.17 £55-60K 1.77% 1.47% 120.24 £60-65K 1.38% 1.15% 120.01 £65-70K 1.08% 0.91% 119.55 £70-75K 0.86% 0.72% 118.92 £75-80K 0.68% 0.57% 118.18 £80-85K 0.54% 0.46% 117.36 £85-90K 0.44% 0.37% 116.48 £90-95K 0.35% 0.31% 115.57 £95-100K 0.29% 0.25% 114.64 £100K + 1.46% 1.34% 108.86