New polling predicts Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake will lose her seat in the upcoming parliamentary elections despite the predicted national Labour landslide.
Electoral Calculus, a polling analytics website, projects a significant shift in Sheffield Hallam’s political landscape. Liberal Democrat candidate Shaffaq Mohammed is poised to secure a victory with a 10% majority.
Blake’s forecasted defeat comes against the backdrop of a narrow win in the 2019 elections, where she clinched victory with just a 2.6% majority over the Liberal Democrat candidate, Laura Gordon.
Since 2019, Olivia Blake has served as the Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero, as well as the Shadow Minister of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Currently, she is a member of the Public Accounts Select Committee.
However, with Mohammed’s predicted 13% points swing, Blake finds her seat in question.
Shaffaq Mohammed, a councillor in Ecclesall, was first elected in Broomhill in 2004 and is now the leading Liberal Democrat councillor on Sheffield City Council, said: “We are making real progress in our campaign to retake Sheffield Hallam, but we will be taking nothing for granted. These polls tell us we can win, but it could come down to the wire.
“It’s a question for the local people: will you let Labour lead you down the garden path and tell you that you have to vote Labour to get the Conservatives out when they’re a distant third in our area? Or will you vote for a real, local champion to be their MP and hold Labour to account?”
Coun Mohammed has criticised the Labour Party’s track record, citing examples such as the climate pledge and the street tree scandal as evidence of their failure to deliver for the city.
The Sheffield Hallam parliamentary seat was once held by the former Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, who held the seat from 2005 to 2017 when he lost it to Labour candidate Jared O’Mara, who was jailed in 2022 for four years over fraudulent expense claims to fund his cocaine and alcohol addictions.
A date hasn’t been announced for the 2024 Parliamentary Election; however, Labour is strongly favoured to win an overall national majority.
We contacted Olivia Blake to comment on the polling data, but she has yet to respond.