The seat is essentially split in two. Most of it is suburban, residential, predominantly middle class, and traditionally fertile ground for the Conservatives. The other part of the city centre is covered by St Peterís ward, Labourís only reliable stronghold, where the large Asian and black community in the seat is concentrated.
The town centre includes the civic centre and civic hall, currently undergoing a major renovation, as well as the university. It also includes the terminus for the new Metro scheme linking Wolverhampton to Birmingham. This £145m scheme, funded by a mixture of private, government and European money, opened in 2000.
The seat was represented from 1950 to 1974 by Conservative Enoch Powell, who made his infamous "Rivers of Blood" speech on race here in 1968.
After 1974, the seat was home to eurosceptic Nick Budgen, who received the endorsement of his predecessor in the 1997 campaign. Given the large ethnic minority population, this might not have helped and Mr Budgen was ousted by Labour.