Analysis: Many potential sites are either in ‘red wall’ areas or former safe constituencies in the south
• Survey shows only five of 138 MPs in affected seats voice support
Look at the map of onshore exploration licences in the UK, and you could be forgiven for thinking it was an illustration of target seats for opposition parties in the next general election.
Ministers privately acknowledge that “rethinking” fracking would be politically very difficult. Those areas most ripe for the controversial oil and gas extraction method are marginals in the “red wall” of constituencies in the north that historically have tended to be Labour, many of which were won by the Tories in 2019. Many of the others are former safe Conservative seats in the south where the Liberal Democrats are limbering up to pick off disillusioned former Tory voters.