Battleground Yorkshire: No MP should want an easy campaign

His victory in 2019 was one of the biggest scalps for Mr Johnson, but opinion polls suggest that the end of over 100 years of Labour control in the seat could be very short-lived.

“I'm glad that it's not all easy grazing because it shouldn't be,” says Mr Stafford, speaking to The Yorkshire Post prior to the announcement of the general election.

“Politicians, MPs, councillors, whatever, should fight for every vote, they shouldn't be complacent. One of the issues we've had in Rother Valley was that for 101 years before I got elected, it was controlled by the Labour Party.

“For 50-something years now the council's been controlled by the Labour Party, and Labour locally, were completely complacent, they neglected and ignored the views and opinions of the voters in Rother Valley. It's as simple as that.

“That is why we saw Brexit, we saw the Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) scandal in Rotherham, they've just neglected people and taken advantage of people's views and votes.

“It's good that there's going to be a challenge. It's good, they're gonna fight for votes, because that makes politicians better. It makes us all work harder for people’s votes.

“I think that's frankly, how it should be and that should be for whatever colour the seat, red or blue.”

“His message to voters is that although Keir Starmer is offering change on a national level, the change that he offers to Rother Valley is merely a return to the same representation it has had for a century.

“Do people really want to go back to the old ways of Labour neglecting, ignoring, taking advantage of voters? Or do you actually see a brighter future, with a Conservative Party locally who are working really hard.

“We're not taking anyone for granted. It's completely important that we keep delivering, keep talking to people, finding out what matters to them, and actually working with them.

“Because again, and again and again. The refrain that I hear on the doorsteps is “Labour took us for granted, Labour ignored us, we don't trust what they say”.

“When people look at the vote for the future, they're also going to look at the past and their lived experience, and their lived experience of Labour in Rother Valley was that of being ignored and neglected.”