BBC Newsnight reporter Katie Razzall visited the constituency of Penistone and Stockbridge in South Yorkshire in order to gauge the voting intentions of local residents. The constituency sits in a traditional Labour heartland and was represented by the former Labour MP Angela Smith, before she quit the party in February to join Change UK and then the Liberal Democrats. The region voted heavily in favour of Brexit in the 2016 referendum, with Leave polling 60.65 percent to Remain’s 39.35 percent.

In a clear sign that Mr Corbyn’s fence sitting over Brexit is hurting the party in its northern heartlands, many loyal Labour voters said they could not bring themselves to vote for Labour.

One Labour voter told the BBC’s reporter: “I’ve been a lifelong socialist all my life, but not anymore. No.”

When Ms Razzall asks whether that is because of Brexit, the man replied: “That’s simply because of what’s happened with Brexit.”

A former party member said: “I think for the very first time in my adult life I’m not going to vote Labour, and that’s not an easy thing for me to say.

“I have been a party member, I have been a branch official, a constituency official, a trade union official most of my adult life.

“And I cannot, in fact I’ve recently given up my membership of the Labour Party.”

A third man explained: “This village where I grew up, it is Labour through and through.

“And I talk to my family and friends and they’ve said to me, it’s going to stick in their throat, but the only way to get what they voted for in the referendum in 2016 is to vote Tory.”

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The BBC’s report produced a flurry of angry social media comments from disgruntled Labour and Remain supporters, who accused the corporation of bias.

One wrote: “PI$$ OFF with that BBC. Shameful.”

Another posted: “Good old Biased BBC.”

While a third huffed: “And this is what you start with?

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“Really @BBCNewsnight you can do so much better #impartiality”.

A fourth said: “More BBC unbalanced right wing propaganda.”

And a fifth fumed: “When are we going to talk about the clear radicalisation of a generation of voters who have been swallowed up by the dangerous cult of Brexit?

Ms Razzall’s report seems to back up the analysis of political expert Professor Travers, of the London School of Economics (LSE).

He spoke to Express.co.uk last week, to comment on a YouGov poll that showed the Tories were set to win a 68 seat majority.

He said: “The most interesting thing about the YouGov poll is that unlike other polls they can feed the data into a model that gives you the total number of seats.

“It shows very clearly that Labour is doing badly and the Tories are doing well in Labour seats in the north.

“That means Labour needs to refocus its attention on these areas to stop the Tories.”

He added: “Labour has to get the message across to supporters in the north who nevertheless backed Leave that they can vote for them and then vote Leave again in a second referendum.”

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