Fracking Support for Ending Ban Could Split Voters in Target Seats

More than a quarter of constituencies that have fracking licences in place are in Reform UK seats or target seats, research has revealed, amid rows inside the party over lifting the ban on shale gas drilling.

- Robyn Vinter

A total of 127 constituencies in England and Wales have fracking licences already approved, all of them in the north, the research by the Greenpeace-funded journalism website Unearthed found. Of these, 34 are in places where Reform came first or second at the last general election.

While the biggest figures in Reform's leadership have backed a return of fracking, this sentiment disappears in areas where it could actually take place.

In Lancashire, Reform councillors said fracking was not right for the north-west after a series of earthquakes shut it down in 2019, while in Scarborough the Reform-led council voted against planning permission for an oil and gas licence allowing the controversial "proppant squeeze" method, similar to fracking, on the outskirts of the town.

Fracking has in effect been banned since 2019, with the last remaining well in Lancashire sealed this year. The Labour government has said it has no plans to reinstate the practice.

A further 11 constituencies in Scotland also had potential fracking sites but the practice was banned by the Scottish government in 2015 and there is no expectation that Reform will gain control there.