PERSUADING Stafford's voters to return to their Tory roots could be as easy as taking sweets from a child.

Conservative leader David Cameron has identified the seat as key to his party's success in the election.

And it has personal significance for Mr Cameron, who lost the seat for his party back in 1997, when Stafford returned its first Labour MP for 47 years.

Following boundary changes, the Conservative majority defended by Mr Cameron was 7,235 but Labour exceeded the 6.58 per cent swing needed to take the seat with a majority of 4,314 for David Kidney.

Mr Kidney went on to win the seat for the third time, with a 2,121 majority over Conservative candidate David Chambers, in 2005.

But his position has been weakened by the expenses scandal – he paid back £2,427.82 after claming too much on council tax and water bills – and by the Stafford Hospital controversy.

Stafford College worker, John Carter, aged 75, from Acton Trussell, said: "I teach young offenders, some who have been caught thieving. But the expenses scandal has shown many of our politicians have been taking tens of thousands of pounds they aren't entitled to.

"I met David Cameron and his wife when he was standing in Stafford in 1997. He was completely different then, and came across as supercilious, looking down his nose at us.

"He has obviously done a lot of work on his manner since then and is much better now.

"But the country is in a mess and reducing expenditure, increasing income tax and slashing pay for public services bosses is the only solution or the younger generation will be paying the cost when they are much older, we could end up like Greece with a huge debt owed by the government."

Although the economy is a hot topic for many Stafford voters, the hospital scandal is much more pressing.

Mr Kidney has faced criticism of his handling of the situation.

Despite initially fighting for a public inquiry he supported Robert Francis's private hearings as part of the independent inquiry following a Healthcare Commission report, which highlighted low staffing levels, inadequate nursing and a lack of equipment and leadership.

The report said the hospital's chaotic systems could have led to the deaths of hundreds of patients.

Mr Kidney is now backing plans for a new inquiry looking at why other bodies did not spot the problems sooner.

But many families affected by the 1,200 unnecessary deaths believe this does not go far enough.

Christine Leek, aged 52, a health care assistant working in the X-ray department at Stafford Hospital, said: "I have first-hand experience of what happened and whatever MP we get, the hospital needs a lot more help.

"Morale is very low but we just get on with our jobs. A public inquiry would highlight what went wrong."

Mo Hendry, aged 53, owner of Soap Sudz, in Greengate Street, said: "The hospital scandal has hit this town hard, people are ashamed that we are making national headlines.

"My daughter was being treated there and signed herself out because it was so bad. I saw tissues lying under the bed with blood on them. Some people may have lost a bit of faith in David Kidney but personally I'll still vote Labour because they offer the best chance of coming out of this recession quickly."

Mr Kidney will be defending his seat against Jeremy Lefroy for the Conservatives, Liberal Democrat Barry Stamp, Roy Goode for Ukip, Mike Shone for the Green Party, and, for the first time, a BNP candidate, Roland Hynd.

Stafford-based bookie, Keith Hill has the Tories as the hot favourite with 1-6 odds to win over the town's 70,000 electors.

Former BT worker Christopher Wilmouth, aged 69, from Baswich, disagrees.

He said: "For me, as for a lot of older people, we have longer memories and I remember how the Tories put up rates and I would never vote for them.

"The economic problems we are facing are worldwide they are not Labour's fault."

Father-of-three, Dominic Girling, aged 24, a bakery assistant in Asda, said: "I've always voted Labour and I will again because David Kidney is trying to help my family get a new council house. We have three children under the age of four, in a two bedroom house."