JOY Squires really is Labour's big hope for Worcester - a politician at the centre of a fascinating battle which is almost certain to have national reverberations.

If any of the two main parties are to gain an overall majority, or something close to it, they will have to win Worcester - that's never been in dispute.

You'd have to go back to 1974 the last time one party won Worcester but wasn't able to form a Government, making it a true 'bellwether' seat likely to make or break dreams.

Councillor Squires, 60, has the task of trying to overturn Robin Walker's 2,982 majority and a swing of just over three per cent is required to achieve that.

And it's the battle of hearts and minds she is trying to win over, having dedicated herself to arguing Labour's case long before she was selected as the candidate in November 2011 via that well-trailed all-women's shortlist.

It's been some life journey to reach this stage for the mum-of-two, who was born in a village called Ford, just outside Shrewsbury but has called Worcester her home for over 25 years.

Growing up in a staunch Labour family, she left school at 17 and did a degree at the then-Kingston Polytechnic before completing postgraduate studies to become a lecturer, landing a job at Aberystwyth University before spending 10 years at the University of Wolverhampton.

She was the first in her family to pass the 11+, the first to get 'O' Levels and 'A' Levels and first to get a degree - quite an achievement for a working class girl.

But her views on politics were already well on the way to being shaped by then, sparked by those childhood talks at home with her late father, often around "how life could be better".

"My parents worked hard to put food on the table for us, but we weren't well off by any means," says Cllr Squires, who has one older brother.

"Dad took a great interest in current affairs and I remember having discussions with them about how life could be better.

"I remember them saying the council house I'd been brought up in was a council house thanks to the Labour Government."

They got by, with her late mother working as a cleaner and father a lorry driver before stints as a bookie and then steward at New Road.

But she says the real "turning point" that led to her joining the Labour Party was the Conservative views of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at the end of the 1970s.

"My upbringing was in a real tight-knit community where we all looked after each other, and she said there was no such thing as society," she said.

Her lecturing career spanned 20 years before she joined a small company called 'Partners in Change' in 2000, which worked with deprived communities in areas like regeneration, housing and family life.

It meant she could play a part in helping deliver Labour's old SureStart centres, a role she stepped away from a couple of years ago to concentrate on the constituency.

Having made Worcester her family home with husband George, a fellow city councillor and sons Tom and Jim, both now in their twenties, she wants to "give something back" to the city.

She's already served 11 years as an elected councillor in Worcester, firstly from 1991-1995, standing down for family reasons before returning in 2008, representing the Arboretum.

"This is my home and I am proud to call Worcester that, it's been so good to me and my family and that's why I want to give something back," she said.

"I am ready to be an MP, being selected was an enormous privilege and I'm humbled to be in this position.

"I've got to know so much more about the city and what makes it tick, my ambition is to be a great MP for Worcester and do my best for it."

One of her pressing concerns is the NHS, with Cllr Squires suggesting it's "at breaking point" and needs urgent intervention from the incoming Government.

She says after years of door knocking it's "the issue most frequently raised concern on the doorstep", and her view is that "the basics are going wrong".

If elected she says improving rail links, a long campaign by Mr Walker, is something she will carry on.

Pressing for all employees to pay the Living Wage, making Worcester a much better city for people with disabilities, deeper focus on community projects and "a more coordinated approach" with support for young people's apprenticeships are also on her immediate agenda.

As far as the Conservatives are concerned, Cllr Squires is the big rival, the candidate with realistic hopes of taking the scalp.

But even recent polls from Tory peer Lord Ashcroft suggests confusion over the likely winner, with an October survey of 1,000 residents putting Cllr Squires as narrow favourite, only for a March one to suggest it will stay Conservative, but just.

So can she win?

"It's a very tight race, and I think the answer is yes, we can win this seat - I do think the majority of people in Worcester don't want a Conservative Government and the only answer to that is to vote Labour," she said.

We've got to get that message across. I am proud of Worcester and want to do my best for the city."