The town where Labour support has fallen by 52%

In the former mining town of South Elmsall, support for the Labour Party had been ingrained for generations.

Yet just over a month ago, its voters and those elsewhere in Wakefield turned their backs on decades of Labour rule at the local elections.

The city council had never been controlled by anyone but Labour, but a turquoise tidal wave swept that away and Reform UK now hold 56 of the 63 seats.

The former council leader, Denise Jeffrey, laid the blame at the door of the prime minister, and said mention of Sir Keir Starmer was "toxic" during doorstep campaigning.

The fall in Labour backing was most pronounced in the South Elmsall and South Kirby ward, where its candidates' share of the vote dropped by more than half.

The BBC went out on to the streets of South Elmsall to find out whether Labour could ever win back the hearts and minds of the community.

The changes to Wakefield Council's make-up were part of a bigger picture across Yorkshire which saw Reform also seize control of Calderdale and Barnsley, and become the largest party in Bradford and Kirklees.

In South Elmsall and South Kirby, Labour polled 73% of the votes in 2024 - two years later, it scraped only 21%, a 52% fall.

Mother and daughter Alison and Caitlin Alcourt, out shopping in the town centre, did not have a good opinion of Sir Keir.

Alison has lived in the area all of her life and said she remembers a time when it used to be a "thriving town".

"People came from all over the country to the market, traders could never get a stall because it was absolutely rammed, but everything has gone downhill."

South Elmsall lost its main employer with the closure of Frickley Colliery in the early 1990s.

It was known as a hotbed of union radicalism in the 1980s, and was one of the last pits to return to work following the miners' strike, so its Labour councillors naturally enjoyed large majorities.

But Alison said the stronghold had fallen and the party would struggle to win back votes no matter who the leader was.

"Everyone's lost confidence in them, they're all voting Reform."

Caitlin, at 26, is too young to remember the days of coal, and said she had never voted in an election.

She said she might be tempted to the ballot box if she knew "there's someone there, and they can look after us and prove it. If not, I won't vote, I never will".

Relaxing on a bench was one of the former Labour loyalists Alison spoke of who has now switched to Reform.

Like many of the older generation in the town, Ray Sykes, now 80, worked in the coal industry. The retired mining engineer was a lifelong Labour voter and May's local elections were the first time he had cast his vote for another party.

He wants Sir Keir to step down and believes the country needs a new Prime Minister.

"I've voted Labour all my life until this time, and I'll never vote Labour again, until it might be possible that Andy Burnham (if he becomes party leader) does a turnaround and gets the country going again."

Sykes was drawn to Reform leader Nigel Farage because he saw him as someone who "says it straight out and doesn't hide anything".

His views were echoed by Stephen Chapman, 60, who recently retired and also switched from Labour to Reform.

"I don't think much of Labour, full stop. The prime minister is doing nothing about illegal immigrants and not helping people financially.

"I voted Labour in previous elections but I couldn't this time because I don't like the man, he's just too smiley. He's not too socialist, in my opinion."

He said that if Burnham became leader, he could win back votes in areas like Wakefield, but that he needed new policies that could appeal to these lost supporters.

"He has to sort out illegal immigration, and they've got to try and help people, sort the cost of living crisis, people are struggling to eat."

Even a former Labour councillor who stopped to talk to the BBC spoke of her disillusionment with the party she joined as a teenager in the 1970s.

Now 72, Lynn Whitehouse did not renew her membership this year.

"It's a combination of things that were letting people down. I had high hopes when Labour won the general election in 2024 but I wanted a leader with a bit more oomph.

"And what did they do? Straight away they got rid of cold weather payments. Your core voters - they let us down badly."

Voters of Whitehouse's age previously had universal access to the winter fuel payments, but the support is now means-tested.

She said she backed Burnham to be leader of the party back in 2015 and hoped he might help revive the party's fortunes.

"He is selling hope just like Jeremy Corbyn. I just think we need it we need it badly - we need some sort of a change but if they all work together and stopped infighting, that might be half the problem."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.

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