Will Westminster lose Penistone East for the Tories first time in a generation?

Penistone East has voted Conservative in the local elections since 1999.

It means that even during Tony Blair’s peak years the residents of villages such as Silkstone and Wortley, just to name a few, thought they would be better off with Tory councillors.

Even Amanda Griffin, the ward's Independent candidate who is standing because she is "fed up with what's going out there", admitted to the Local Democracy Service that she wasn't "surprised" about the fact that Penistone East is a Tory stronghold for the last twenty odd years.

However, this year the candidates standing for Penistone East think the temperature has changed.

Alex Burnett, the Labour candidate in the area, said “people were struggling”.

He said: “Traditionally, people felt the Tories looked after them here but recently that’s just not been the case. They let us down on the economy - Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss’ budget sent everybody’s mortgage through the roof.

“This area has voted Conservative in the local election for 25 years, they’ve taken this area for granted.

“This area has been let down.”

Nevertheless, Penistone East has been a Tory stronghold - people voted Tory during “New Labour”, the big recession in 2007 and 2008, the Covid pandemic and after Boris Johnson’s Partygate scandal.

Also, Mr Burnett already stood to become a councillor in 2021 and was beaten.

He said he had increased the vote share but still.

So is this a case of “now or never” for the opposing candidates?

He said: “I think we’re now in a position where we can go and win this election on Thursday and elect a Labour councillor for the first time in a generation. Last year, we were a lot closer.

“I think we can do it this Thursday.”

Andrew Waters, the chair of the local Liberal Democrats, has been living in the area for 33 years.

He also downplayed the suggestion that it was going to be their last chance to win a seat in Penistone East.

He said: “I wouldn't say that because one time we did only a little bit of campaigning and we were only 400 votes off - you’d only need to turn 200 voters’ minds to switch that.”

It’s easier said than done, he was told.

Mr Waters, a well-known figure in the ward, also stood for a seat in the past but had no chance of winning.

He added he didn’t understand why the Conservatives have been winning in Penistone East.

“It’s an affluent area. You tend to get more people vote Conservative in an affluent area. I don’t understand it,” he added.

He said Brexit was not among the main topics this year - it was the cost of living crisis and the housing crisis.

He said: “This is local elections, this is about local issues. This is a forgotten area of Barnsley because it’s seen as affluent.

"I think it’s going to be close (between the three parties) this year.”

PENISTONE EAST

Steven Burkinshaw – Conservative

Alex Burnett – Labour

Amanda Griffin – Independent

Rebecca Jean Trotman – Green

Andrew Stephen Waters – Liberal Democrats

The Conservative and Green candidates were approached for a comment.