2023 by-elections: Conservatives hold Boris Johnson’s old seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip
The Conservatives have won Boris Johnson’s old seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip following a by-election.
The vote was triggered after the former prime minister stood down as an MP last month. Mr Johnson’s decision to leave the Commons shortly before it was recommended he be suspended for 90 days was enough to have potentially triggered a vote anyway.
Conservative Steve Tuckwell, a local councillor, has now been elected as the MP for the West London constituency – seeing off Labour’s Danny Beales.
Follow by-election coverage live: Tories hang on in Uxbridge after ULEZ backlash
The Conservatives won 13,965 votes, Labour 13,470 and the Liberal Democrats 526 – meaning the majority is 495.
The swing was 6.7 from Conservative to Labour – but not enough to change the party in charge.
The race was understandably overshadowed by Mr Johnson, although the Tories wanted to focus on the expansion of London’s Ultra-low Emission Zone (ULEZ), being championed by Labour mayor Sadiq Khan.
Sources within the Labour Party admitted after polls closed that the controversial measure played a sizeable role in the election and came up frequently on the doorstep.
Speaking after his victory was announced, Mr Tuckwell said that Mr Khan “lost Labour this election”, and called for the mayor and Sir Keir to “sit up and listen” and change tack on the ULEZ.
This is a seat the Labour Party would have expected to win, given the circumstances.
It means Rishi Sunak has avoided a by-election clean sweep on a night where he faced three votes – Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London, Somerton and Frome in Somerset and Selby and Ainsty in North Yorkshire.
Mr Tuckwell is a lifelong resident of the area, and has been a councillor since 2018.
Ahead of the election, Camden councillor Mr Beales held an eight-point lead in the polls over his Conservative opposition.
He had campaigned on the government’s record in office, including rising mortgage rates and the cost of living crisis, as well as local issues like the state of local hospitals.
Mr Beales had also criticised the expansion of the ULEZ, saying it’s “not the right time” to enlarge the zone – but this seems to have been futile.
Thangam Debbonaire, Labour’s shadow leader of the House of Commons, told Sky News that the swing they achieved in Uxbridge and South Ruislip was enough to be the largest party of government across a general election – although this would not secure them an overall majority.
A Labour spokesperson said: “This was always going to be a difficult battle in a seat that has never had a Labour MP, and we didn’t even win in 1997.
“We know that the Conservatives crashing the economy has hit working people hard, so it’s unsurprising that the ULEZ expansion was a concern for voters here in a by-election.”
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Khan denies ‘war on motorists’
There was a long list of 17 candidates in the election, which is not uncommon in a former prime minister’s seat.
South Ruislip is the Tory heartland within the constituency, and a growing Asian community has also been more willing to vote Conservative.
UK drivers are “confused” by the country’s electric car transition, ministers are being warned.
Although most drivers are not hostile towards electric vehicles (EVs), many are confused about what changes are coming and when, according to new research from the AA.
In a survey of more than 14,000 AA members, 7% thought the government was banning the sale of used petrol and diesel cars.
Around a third thought manual EVs exist, despite them all being automatic.
More than one in five said they would never buy an EV.
The government’s plan for increasing the number of electric vehicles being driven in the UK focuses heavily on increasing the supply of the vehicles.
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What you can do to reach net zero
In 2024, at least 22% of new cars and 10% of new vans sold by each manufacturer in the UK had to be zero-emission, which generally means pure electric.
Each year, those percentages will rise, reaching 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans in 2030.
Manufacturers will face fines of £15,000 per vehicle if electric vehicle sales fall short of 28% of total production this year.
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By 2035, all new cars and vans will be required to be fully zero emission, according to the Department for Transport.
Second-hand diesel and petrol cars will still be allowed to be sold after this date, and their fuel will still be available.
There are more EVs – but will people buy them?
In February, 25% of new cars were powered purely by battery and in January, they made up 21% of all new cars registered in the UK.
But despite the growth of electric sales, manufacturers continue to warn that the market will not support the growth required to hit government EV targets, and called for consumer incentives and the extension of tax breaks.
The AA suggested the government’s plan focuses on “supply but does little to encourage demand for EVs”.
It called on ministers to co-ordinate a public awareness campaign alongside the motoring industry which directly targets drivers who doubt the viability of EVs.
“Our message to government is more needs to be done to make EVs accessible for everyone,” said Jakob Pfaudler, AA chief executive.
Which? head of consumer rights Sue Davis said: “When it comes to making sustainable choices such as switching to an electric car, our research shows that people are often held back by high costs, complex choices or uncertainty.
“The government needs to provide the right information on electric vehicles and other sustainable choices so that people have the confidence to switch.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We’re investing over £2.3bn to help industry and consumers make a supported switch to EVs.
“This includes installing a public charge point every 28 minutes, keeping EV incentives in the company car tax regime to 2030, and extending 100% first-year allowances for zero-emission cars for another year.
“Second-hand EVs are also becoming cheaper than ever, with one in three available under £20,000 and 21 brand new models available for less than £30,000.
“We’re seeing growing consumer confidence as a result.”
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