Reform’s pro-fracking stance could divide potential voters, research shows

Exclusive: Policy lacks support in areas where drilling could start - many of which have Reform MPs or are 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 the shale gas drilling.

A total of 127 constituencies in England and Wales have fracking licences already approved, all of them in the north, 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.