The LDRS is taking a look at all four Wirral seats ahead of the 2019 General Election.

The election takes place on December 12 and comes less than two-and-half years after the snap election in 2017.

We have included all the candidates standing in each constituency, plus information on the area covered by the seat.

Here is our guide to Birkenhead:

Birkenhead boundaries

The Birkenhead constituency is made up of Bidston and St James, Birkenhead and Tranmere, Claughton, Oxton, Prenton, and Rock Ferry.

Birkenhead make-up

On the most recent figures, 62,432 people were eligible to vote in Birkenhead.

How the seat voted in previous elections

Labour have held the seat since 1950, when it was first contested in its current form.

Frank Field has held the seat for Labour since 1979, at the last election he got 77% of the vote.

But since then he has left the party and formed his own, the Birkenhead Social Justice Party. That sets the context for an intriguing battle in Birkenhead.

In 2017, turnout increased to 67.7%, but that was still the lowest in Wirral’s four seats.

Candidates standing

Frank Field (Birkenhead Social Justice)

Mick Whitley (Labour)

Claire Rowles (Conservative)

Stuart Kelly (Liberal Democrat)

Pat Cleary (Green)

Darren Lythgoe (Brexit)

Analysis

Birkenhead has been a safe Labour seat since it was created, but Frank Field’s decision to leave Labour and set up his own party could throw the race wide open.

Mr Field is a high-profile MP, well known to locals due to his longevity and his dramatic interventions in key national debates, such as the recent displaying of graphic images in Parliament to highlight the case of a constituent denied disability benefits despite suffering from a long-term degenerative condition.

But it will be a huge task for Mr Field to defeat Labour in a seat where they have achieved over 60% of the vote with him as their candidate for the last 27 years.

Another difficulty for Mr Field will be the problem new parties and independents have in achieving recognition with voters.

There will be some voters who arrive at the polling booth unaware of the local situation and intend to vote for their chosen party based purely on national issues.

Perhaps this is why Mr Field came third on 10% in YouGov’s seat-by-seat poll for the General Election, behind the Conservatives on 20% and Labour on 49%.

However, Birkenhead did vote to leave the EU in 2016, by 52% to 48%, and Mr Field campaigned for Leave at the time.

This could help him attract leave voters who do not want to vote for the Conservatives due to controversial policies such as Universal Credit.

But there will be two other Brexit-supporting candidates in the seat, as both the Tories and the Brexit Party are competing in Birkenhead.

The Greens and the Liberal Democrats have strong representation locally.

They will be hoping to scoop up remain voters frustrated by Jeremy Corbyn’s neutral stance on the UK’s membership of the EU.