WILL voters use the 2017 General Election to reinforce their Brexit views?
Dr Andrew Mycock, a politics lecturer at the University of Huddersfield, said: “It is clear that Brexit is the main issue and that’s going to influence how people vote.
“Dewsbury is going to be very competitive. In the last two cycles the seat has changed hands and Paula Sherriff has her work cut out holding it for Labour.
“Batley and Spen and Huddersfield, I’m fairly sure, will be held for Labour but I think they may have a diminished majority.
“And I don’t see any change in the Colne Valley. I think Jason McCartney is likely to keep his seat and probably increase his majority.”
Dr Mycock believes Labour needs to demonstrate what they’re about instead of pushing the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, while the Conservatives need to persuade people who wouldn’t normally vote Tory, such as those in Labour heartlands but who may have voted to Leave the EU, to vote for them now.
Asked if he thought Theresa May was right to call a general election, Dr Mycock said: “For her politics yes. She is unelected as a leader and the mandate was designed by another political leader. But opportunism is part of it. If she doesn’t get the kind of majority she’s asking then she’ll have the same problems in Westminster. She’s taken a gamble.”
