Reform UK are targeting South Yorkshire in a bid to gain seats across the region in the next election.

The relatively new political group are aiming to capitalise on the unpopularity of the Conservative Party across the county.

They hope to entice voters who are concerned about the Tory leadership but who also refuse to vote for Keir Starmer’s Labour.

The party, whose main objective is the successful implementation of the 2016 Brexit referendum, see the region as being one of the most likely areas that they will elect an MP.

Rother Valley Tory MP, Alexander Stafford, said: “With any new party, of any shape or colour, that comes along, there’s always that risk of bleeding votes to them.

“Reform are the reformed version of the Brexit Party and for instance in Rother Valley last time, the Brexit Party got 12% of the vote, so a very high percentage of the vote.”

The region is of significant importance to Reform UK as it voted overwhelmingly in favour of Brexit.

Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster all voted by over 67% for the UK to leave the European Union.

These areas are also traditionally part of the Labour Red Wall, which fell in 2019 to Boris Johnson’s “stonking mandate”.

They represent a key target therefore as victory in any seats would be both a win over Labour and proof that voters lack belief in the government to achieve their targets regarding Brexit.

There are hurdles however as the most recent polls show.

YouGov have said that Reform are now level with the Liberal Democrats, each on 9% nationally, but as of December 2nd, individual polling by constituency shows that Reform are losing voters in all South Yorkshire seats.

Barnsley East would be the worst result as it stands, with Reform dropping below the Conservatives to third, losing over 20% of the vote.

Whilst Reform may pose questions for both Labour and the Conservatives, its clear the political landscape is too tumultuous to predict who will control these seats after the next election.