Vote Conservative to stop Labour concreting over the countryside, campaigners will say this week in two key by-election battles.
Rishi Sunak will face a big political test on Thursday when voters go to the polls to choose new MPs in traditional Tory strongholds Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth.
The Conservative candidates say Sir Keir Starmer gave people a new reason to vote Tory when he pledged to “bulldoze” through a “restrictive planning system” and “build the next generation of Labour new towns”.
In his landmark conference speech on Tuesday, the Labour leader said while his party was not intent on “tearing up the greenbelt”, these zones to prevent urban sprawl were sometimes nothing more than a “dreary wasteland”.
Sir Keir went further in another interview, saying he would bulldoze through local opposition to new homes. He described himself as a “Yimby” – someone who says Yes to building in his backyard.
Tories fighting to keep the two seats blue believe Sir Keir has handed them vital ammunition in the last stages of the campaign.
Festus Akinbusoye, the candidate for Nadine Dorries’s former Mid Bedfordshire seat, said he had been “very much helped” by Sir Keir’s pledges. Britain’s first black police and crime commissioner said “people here will have a local MP in me categorically against building more on our greenbelt”.
The 45-year-old father-of-three supports building on brownfield sites and making it easier for councils to change the use of abandoned commercial properties. “I think that is a sensible thing rather than just saying, ‘Any bit of greenery we see, let us bulldoze over it and concrete over it’,” he said.
And in the Staffordshire constituency of Tamworth, Tory candidate Andrew Cooper also believes Labour’s building plans will boost his electoral fortunes. The former Army sniper said: “People don’t want to be absorbed into larger conurbations and become smaller parts of larger towns and cities.
“I think it will definitely make the difference in the Tamworthby-election. And I think it will certainly have an impact going into the general election.”
The 41-year-old father-of-four argues that “local people need to be trusted with making local decisions”, adding: “We know we can be trusted with that local housing plan.”
Exclusive polling for the Sunday Express by WeThink reveals little support for building on the greenbelt. It was supported by 38 per cent, and opposed by 43 per cent.
Conservative party chairman Greg Hands said: “Labour’s flagship housebuilding plans are a threat to our green spaces.
“Their top-down targets would bulldoze Britain and strip local people of their say so Sir Keir can concrete over the greenbelt.”
Housing minister Rachel Maclean said: “Conservatives in Government are on track to deliver our manifesto pledge to build one million homes in this parliament, with housing delivery at a near record 30-year high.”
