Labour could win mayoral race in Rishi Sunak's backyard, polling suggests

It placed Labour’s David Skaith on 41 points, ahead of the Conservatives’ Keane Duncan on 27 points, among voters who had made up their mind on who to vote for.

Both the Green’s Kevin Foster and the Lib Dems’ Felicity Cunliffe-Lister polled at 11 points.

The fieldwork, conducted between 26 and 30 April by the Labour Together think tank, suggested that 23 per cent of people in the combined authority had no plans to vote in Thursday’s election, with a further 22 per cent having not made up their minds.

The contest to elect the combined authority’s first mayor comes as part of Thursday’s local elections that sees mayors and councillors elected across Yorkshire.

Labour currently hold only two of the eight constituencies in York and North Yorkshire following Keir Mather’s Selby by-election victory in July last year.

Recent MRP projections by YouGov of the upcoming general election suggest that the Conservatives could lose a further three of these seats to Labour.

Party sources said that any potential victory would be invaluable in pushing into seats across North Yorkshire which it has historically had a limited presence in, if any.

Rachel Reeves, Labour’s shadow chancellor, yesterday unveiled another attack-ad by her party on the outskirts of York, reading “your pension is not safe with the Tories”.

Much of North Yorkshire is made up of large numbers of current or soon-to-be retirees with over a quarter of seats such as Thirsk and Malton or Skipton and Ripon made up of over-65s.

Last month, Labour confirmed that it would keep the triple lock on pensions for at least the first term of its time in government.

In an interview with The Yorkshire Post, Ms Reeves said: “Under Keir Starmer’s leadership there are no no-go areas for Labour now and we’re fighting for votes in areas where Labour has not been able to pick up support before.

She said that last year’s by-election was clear that “people in North Yorkshire want change” and called on voters in the mayoral contest to “lend” their vote to Labour.

“People see the contrast between what David is offering, sold policies to improve the lives of working people and pensioners here, [...] compared with a Conservative Party that’s offering unfunded gimmicks.”

Keane Duncan, the Conservative candidate for the mayoralty, has attracted some criticism for his campaign in recent weeks, following suggestions that he would buy the Grand Hotel Scarborough.

Responding to suggestions that Labour’s campaign was more low-key, or even, more conservative, than the Tories’ approach to the contest, Ms Reeves said: “There’s nothing left-wing about nationalising hotels.”

Labour is set for potentially close-run contests across several mayoralities in tomorrow’s local elections and is in contention for wins in Tees Valley, the North East and the West Midlands.

Conservative sources have suggested that a defeat in key Tory-held mayoral roles could serve as a rallying call for those on the Tory backbenches who want to replace him as Prime Minister in order to avoid an effective wipe-out at the next general election.

Christabel Cooper, Director of Research at Labour Together, said: “After a 21 per cent swing toward the party in Selby and Ainsty last summer, our polling shows that Labour is competitive everywhere, including in Rishi Sunak's backyard in North Yorkshire.

“A win here would indicate a terrible night for Prime Minister.”