Barnsley and Rotherham MPs welcome General Election as some challengers are named

Reacting to the Prime Minister’s announcement outside Downing Street this week, Labour’s Sarah Champion, MP for Rotherham, said she was ‘relieved and excited’.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Our area has been decimated by Tory cuts and bad choices in the last 14 years. Now is the chance to get a Government that wants a more fair society and recognises that places like Rotherham matter.”

Ms Champion held the Rotherham Seat for Labour in 2019 with just an 8.7 per cent majority, with the Conservative candidate hot on her heels, and will defend her seat again this year.

Reform UK has been the only party to announce a candidate for this seat so far, with its candidate Sean Ardron.

Rother Valley’s first-ever Conservative MP Alexander Stafford says he is ‘fighting the election’ on his record.

He added: “Now that the economy has turned the corner it is right that the PM has called the election.

“In Rother Valley, we know what 101 years of Labour misrule looks like, and there is clearly no desire to go back. I am fighting the election on my record as a local MP, securing record investment into our area and record unemployment. We must not let Labour squander this bright future.”

His seat will be challenged by Jake Richards for Labour, Tony Harrison for Reform and Colin Taylor for the Liberal Democrats.

Dan Jarvis will also fight to keep his seat in the new Barnsley North constituency.

So far, only Liberal Democrat Penny Baker has been announced as challenger for the seat.

Mr Jarvis added: “The British people will finally have their chance to draw a line under 14 years of chaos and decline.

“The choice is clear. More of the same old Tory psychodrama, or change with Labour. Now is the time to invest in our communities and our people, secure our borders, and work to bring in a decade of national renewal, which will transform our region and our country.

“Over the next six weeks, I will be out and about across the Barnsley North constituency, meeting residents, listening to what matters most to them and putting forward a positive plan for Barnsley and Britain.”