Doncaster elections 2025: Voters in Conisbrough split on who should be elected Doncaster Mayor

After spending an hour speaking with locals around the shops on Church Street, the LDRS heard how reopening Doncaster Sheffield Airport and making improvements to the city centre were key issues for voters.

Husband and wife, John and Alison, aged 67 and 59, both said they’d already voted via the post and had put an ‘X’ next to Labour’s Ros Jones.

John said: “I don’t like the other candidates. I don’t really like Ros Jones either, she’s the best of a bad bunch.”

Alison was more positive on Ros Jones’ candidacy. She said: “She’s Labour and more in connection with who I am and where I come from.”

She told the LDRS she’d like the next mayor to “look after communities” further afield from central Doncaster “and people in those communities and the things they need”.

John said: “The airport needs reopening… I’d like the city centre to be improved too.”

His issues with the city centre were echoed by Alison, who said: “They need to have a chat with Barnsley town centre. We need that in Doncaster.”

47-year-old Jon, who works in one of the small businesses along Church Street, wants the airport sorting and said he’d be trusting Nick Fletcher to do so.

He said: “He’s the only one I have seen. I wouldn’t know the others if I saw them in the street.

“I didn’t know there was a mayor of Doncaster until he was running for it.”

He was very clear on what he wanted the next mayor to address.

“Road and pavements to save people falling over,” he said, “The airport is the big one then tidying the area of all the degenerates.”

However, some who spoke with the LDRS were not totally decided on who would be getting their vote.

Jane, 74, went one step further and said she wouldn’t be voting at all.

She said: “I have voted every year of my life but I’m appalled by it now.

“I remember arguing with my daughter because she wouldn’t and I said women fought for years to vote, but I’m not now.”

She said a lack of support for services in communities over continuous governments had fractured her faith in politics.

Closing Post Offices and deteriorating high streets were symbolic of the issues that had turned her away from voting.

She said: “For as long as this is going on, I will never vote again.”

Aaron, 54, said he was considering not voting at all, but hadn’t settled on the decision entirely.

“I won’t vote for Labour again, put it that way,” he said.

The performance of the current government had damaged his view on Labour politicians, including local candidates in Doncaster.

He said: “It seems the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. They are taking off the elderly and the poor.”

When asked who he was leaning towards voting for if he was to vote, Aaron said he wanted to support Nigel Farage and may then vote for Alexander Jones, the Reform UK candidate for mayor.

He said whoever is elected needs to “clean up the town centre” and “get rid of the homeless people in doorways”.

“Give them somewhere to go and help them,” he said.

Polling stations to elect the next Mayor of Doncaster will open on May 1, 2025.

The full list of candidates includes:

• Ros Jones, Labour
• Nick Fletcher, Conservative
• Alexander Jones, Reform UK
• Julie Buckley, Green Party
• Andrew Walmsley, Yorkshire Party
• Richie Vallance, Independent
• Jamil Ahsan, Workers Party of Britain
• Doug Wright, Health and Social Care Party
• Mihai Melenciuc, Liberal Democrats
• Frank Calladine, British Democrats
• Andy Hiles, Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
• David Bettney, Social Democratic Party