HS2 Eastern leg decision has damaged Conservative support in Yorkshire, polling suggests

Over 1,000 people in the region were questioned for research undertaken by the Opinium polling company on behalf of the High Speed Rail Group, which represents companies involved in the rail industry.

It found 76 per cent believe the region gets less than its fair share of transport funding compared to London and 57 per cent believe that to be true of investment in the region compared to the UK as a whole.

Of those asked, two-thirds say transport funding should be a central focus of 'levelling up' investments - making it the top priority for infrastructure investments above energy (59 per cent) and flood defences (36 per cent).

Meanwhile, 41 per cent of those questioned said the Government's recent decision to curtail the HS2 Eastern leg route so it will finish in the East Midlands rather than Yorkshire has made them think the Government cares less about levelling up. A total of 27 per cent said it hadn't changed their opinion of the Government's approach to levelling up, with 24 per cent saying it had actually made them believe the Government cares more about levelling up than they had previously thought.

A total of 38 per cent said they opposed the Government's recent decision to shorten the HS2 Eastern leg route so it wouldn't reach Leeds compared to 25 per cent who supported the decision. Just over a quarter (27 per cent) say they neither support or oppose the decision.

Pollsters also asked how the HS2 decision had changed people's perceptions of the Conservative party. 30 per cent said it given them a less favourable view, on top of 36 per cent who said it hadn't altered their already negative view of the Tories. Just seven per cent said it had improved their opinion of Boris Johnson's party, with 18 per cent saying it had made no difference to their already positive viewpoint.

But the polling found mixed views on the HS2 decision across the region.

In South Yorkshire, only 29 per cent opposed the cancellation. There had been strong opposition to the Eastern leg in communities in Rotherham and Doncaster where the line had been due to run without any local stops.

In West Yorkshire, 39 per cent opposed the decision with the highest levels of opposition to the cancellation in East Yorkshire (45 per cent) and North Yorkshire (46 per cent).

While there were mixed views about whether the line should have be cancelled, the number of people who said they would be willing to travel by train rather than car from Leeds to Birmingham if the Eastern leg did go ahead in full, and thereby cut journey times, was 60 per cent - up from 25 per cent based on the current route.

A High Speed Rail Group spokesperson said: “Our polling shows just how far reaching the implications of the Government’s decision to curtail HS2 before it reaches Leeds are, going beyond transport to affect agendas from levelling up to net zero.

“It sends a clear message to the Government that without significant investment in national transport, and high speed rail specifically, they are at risk of falling short on their promise of levelling up amongst the public.

“High speed rail is one of the best ways to drive meaningful levelling up outside of the South East, and as such we call on the Government to go beyond HS2 to invest in a truly national high speed rail network.”

When the HS2 route was curtailed in November, the Government committed to launching a £100m study which would including exploring options of how to eventually bring HS2 services to Leeds.

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