Focus on ‘green wall’ of rural voters could bring rewards for Labour

Labour Leader Keir Starmer during a visit to Wakefield College.

Given the comments by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer that he is determined to win back rural seats for the party as he looks to turn around its fortunes from the last two elections, it is interesting that it was Wakefield and Barnsley – two urban areas – that he visited when he came to Yorkshire this week.

However, the London-based lawyer has claimed that he will be back in the region and will be focusing on farmers in the Yorkshire Dales in the hope of addressing rural issues.

If indeed he is true to his word – and, undoubtedly, any absence from countryside communities here will now not go unnoticed – his efforts may prove to be rewarded.

Though much of rural Yorkshire is currently represented by the Conservatives, the result of last year’s General Election, when the Tories decimated the ‘red wall’ and took a number of constituencies from Labour’s heartland, is evidence if ever it was needed that nothing is certain in politics and that even in traditional ‘blue’ areas, there could be votes to be won.

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After the election outcome was announced last December, the Countryside Alliance claimed that “the determination of the Labour Party in particular to treat rural policy as a playground for metropolitan fads and fashions clearly helped turn the countryside against it”.

If Sir Keir is to stand any chance of earning that support, he must prove that he is committed to the countryside and that his party understands the complexities of running it. The importance of this formidable ‘green wall’ of rural voters should not be underestimated.

Focus on ‘green wall’ of rural voters could bring rewards for Labour - The Yorkshire Post says