Jack Blanchard: Tories open new seam deep in enemy territory

IT is perhaps a sign of the Conservative Party's vaulting ambition that their attention will be turning to the western corner of South Yorkshire tomorrow night. The county, after all, is hardly a hot-bed of Conservatism.

Haunted by memories of pit closures in the 1980s and the long and devastating decline of their manufacturing heritage, the voters of South Yorkshire have not elected a Tory MP for almost 20 years.

Of the county's 15 sitting MPs, 14 are currently Labour – and the other is Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, the member for leafy Sheffield Hallam.

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Heading north out of that constituency, up through the Hillsborough area and out into the rolling hills of the eastern Pennines towards Barnsley, an unexpected sight becomes increasingly common. Standing in fields along the roadside, hanging from the walls of outbuildings on the most picturesque of farms, Conservative posters and their crudely-effective message of change loom large.

Is it really possible, here in the newly-formed constituency of Penistone and Stocksbridge, that the Conservatives could at last win themselves a South Yorkshire outpost?

David Cameron, who made his second visit to the constituency in five months last Friday, certainly believes it can be done.

"Absolutely," he told reporters. "That's why I came before, and that's why I've come again. We think there's every chance of winning this seat. It's a new constituency – a chance to make a fresh start."

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The seat is not entirely new, however. Though newly-formed in this year's boundary shake-up from parts of Barnsley West and Penistone, to the north, and Sheffield Hillsborough, to the south, the constituency actually resembles the old Penistone seat, abolished in 1983 – and for Tory strategists plotting the party's triumphant return to South Yorkshire, that old seat's history does not make happy reading.

Only once since the end of the First World War did Penistone return a Conservative MP. The finely-monikered Clifford Glossop was elected in 1931 after Labour leader Ramsey MacDonald's decision to form a coalition government had split his party in two. Four years later, the seat was back in Labour hands.

Yet speak to Conservatives locally and there is a real confidence they are now gaining the upper hand.

Certainly, compared with other parts of South Yorkshire, Labour's notional lead of around 8,500 looks assailable if the Tories win big this Thursday.

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The party's local support centres around the market town of Penistone, with its charming stone streets and olde worlde independent cinema, and its raft of Conservative councillors at local authority level.

"People think it's time for a change," says local mum Jo

Hodges. "Everyone's sick and tired of Labour. They've got us into a mess."

Five miles down the road is Stocksbridge, an old steel town on the edge of Sheffield which, by rights, should be real Labour heartland.

But here concerns over immigration surface time and again among people on the street – with the Government bearing the brunt of their anger.

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"It's just not our country any more," says one, unwilling to give his name.

Head east towards Barnsley, however, and the picture looks rosier for Labour. Dodsworth is an ex-mining village, and a Labour stronghold in every sense of the word. It seems the red flag is flying here still.

"I've voted Labour all my life," said John Eccles, a 73-year-old pensioner. "I don't care what the papers say. Brown's a decent bloke – he'll see us right."

As with any newly-formed constituency, the result here will be

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relatively difficult to call. It is even possible the Liberal Democrats could perform well – Penistone twice elected Liberal politicians before the war, and five of the area's six Sheffield city councillors are Lib Dems.

For many voters in this part of the world, however, Labour remains the only party of choice.

"People here have long memories," said Derek Latham, a plumber whose father worked in the mines. "Mr Cameron can come here all he likes – we know it's the same old Tories."

It is this attitude the Conservatives will hope is on the wane as they attempt to gain their first foothold here for almost a generation.

Penistone and Stocksbridge

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(New seat, replacing Barnsley West and Penistone, and Sheffield Hillsborough)

n Current MP: Angela Smith, Labour (MP for Sheffield Hillsborough)

n Notional majority: 8,617

n Last election: N/A

Confirmed candidates:

n Conservative – Spencer Pitfield

n Labour – Angela Smith

n Liberal Democrat – Ian Cuthbertson

n BNP – Paul James

n English Democrats – Paul McEnhill

n UKIP – Grant French

Rating: Labour/Conservative marginal