Apathy and anger in the West Midlands

By Terry Stiastny
BBC News, West Midlands

Conservative MEPs were out in force canvassing the quiet streets of Alcester, a small market town in Warwickshire.

The European Parliament came to Birmingham's bullring

Malcolm Harbour, one of the party's sitting MEPs for the West Midlands, told me the expenses scandal at Westminster meant he was finding voters were actually more interested in having a political debate than was normal in his 30 years' experience of European elections.

Bert Randall, an elderly gentleman out in his garden as the canvassers called, told them not to bother with him - but that was because he's both the oldest and the longest-standing member of his local Conservative association.

His views on the current political situation, though, were frank.

"I despair", he told me.

He could not understand why MPs' expenses did not have to go through the same procedure of scrutiny that he had followed in his business career.

Exchange rate

The Conservatives are putting a lot of effort into areas like the West Midlands that will be fought over come the general election.

David Cameron's call for an early election has focussed their minds with activists saying Tories can not afford to take the voters for granted.

"They're expecting there's going to be a change of government sooner rather than later, and they know there's going to be a general election within a year, so for us as Conservatives it's very important that we don't become complacent about that," says Malcolm Harbour.

We've got to have the guts and the muscle for the fight Michael Cashman, Labour MEP Bitterness on Barnsley's streets Q&A: European elections 2009

His Labour rival Michael Cashman, the sitting MEP and first on his party's list this time around, was visiting a sheet metal cutting company in Burton-upon-Trent.

He heard about the problems the small firm had faced during the recession: demand from big customers had plummeted and at times it had been a struggle to survive.

The pound's exchange rate against the euro, though, was helping them to pick up new business - selling signposts to Frankfurt airport, among other contracts.

Mr Cashman was quick to defend the government's record on the economy, but he said that Labour faced alternately apathy or anger on the doorstep.

"We've got to have the guts and the muscle for the fight", he said. "While they may not like us a great deal at the moment, they don't like the other parties any more."

Pink bus

Outside the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham, a European Parliament team was having trouble attracting shoppers to their display about European issues like recycling.

Liberal Democrat MEP Liz Lynne has found a similar problem on the doorstep.

She said she was trying to get a positive message over about what MEPs were doing, but that it was "very very difficult", as voters were saying "a plague on all your houses".

The British National Party's lead candidate in the region, Simon Darby, believed his party would benefit from that feeling - despite the efforts of the larger parties.

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He was hopeful of winning a seat in the West Midlands, and predicted that Labour would suffer a shock on election day.

The UK Independence Party's convoy travelling through Stratford-upon-Avon was probably a bewildering sight for tourists; most of the other double-decker buses in the town are taking people on tours of Shakespearean sights.

UKIP's pink bus was preceded by a Land Rover with an old-fashioned loudhailer on the roof, urging people to say No to the European Union.

In 2004, the party came third behind the Conservatives and Labour in the region, with 17% of the vote, which gave them one MEP, Mike Nattrass, who is their lead candidate again this time.

Former TV chef Rustie Lee is also standing for the party, which hopes to improve on its 2004 showing nationally by beating Labour into fourth place.

It's hard to get voters interested in the European elections at the best of times; for politicians, these are not the best of times.

And with a general election due within a year, they are working out what that will mean for the political landscape in the West Midlands.