Ed Miliband has been warned he may not be re-elected as Doncaster North’s MP over his pledge to rapidly expand Britain’s solar energy capacity. The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero could lose his seat to Reform UK after facing significant backlash from his own voters over reported plans to cover vast swathes of South Yorkshire farmland with solar panels, it has been suggested.

Mr Miliband is leading an aggressive net zero push for renewables, such as solar, with developers showing an interest in his own constituency. The city and surrounding areas have become a hotspot for developments, including the Marr Solar scheme, which is being led by a company called Enviromena. Another larger solar scheme, set to surround the small village of Fenwick, was approved by officials this week.

Other projects also approved include Europe’s biggest battery storage plant and at least three more solar farms. However, all but one have been criticised by the Energy Secretary’s own potential voters.

According to The Telegraph, while it may be a coincidence, voters in each of the counties already chosen to host large solar farms switched to Reform. In Mr Miliband’s constituency, Nigel Farage’s party swept to power in last year’s local elections, ending decades of Labour dominance. Two Labour and one Conservative councillors were replaced by three new Reform councillors, who strongly opposed the scheme.

“Reform has Doncaster surrounded,” Stephen Fowle, a member of Moss and District Parish Council, who lives in Fenwick, told the paper. “Ed Miliband is never going to be our MP again.”

Formerly a staunch Labour Party member, Mr Fowle quit over what he described as London’s solar “land grab”, which he believes will devalue his home and destroy the rural character of the area.

Rachel Reed, Reform’s Doncaster councillor, said: “What we’re seeing around this area is the annihilation of the green belt and the destruction of agricultural land by solar farms on a grand scale.”

*** Ensure our latest news headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings. ***

She added that prime farmland is being developed in an area that does not see much sunshine, changing the landscape “against local consent”.

Enviromena’s planning application for Marr Solar has been rejected outright by the City of Doncaster Council, despite being supported by planning officers. The decision is currently being appealed.

However, the Fenwick solar farm project is going ahead. Granted planning approval on Wednesday (February 18), the project will cover roughly 1,324 acres of land – equivalent to about 650 football pitches – and generate capacity of up to 237.5MW, enough to power approximately 75,000 homes annually. The solar farm will be built and operated by Boom Power, founded by Mark Hogan, a renewable energy entrepreneur.

Mr Miliband also approved multiple large-scale solar projects, including the over 1,200-hectare Tillbridge solar farm in Lincolnshire, in October. According to its council leader, Sean Matthews, backlash against the plans was key in helping Reform also take control in last year’s elections. If recent polls are correct, Reform’s surge here could soon be repeated in Norfolk, Suffolk and other counties.