The Conservatives have lost two parliamentary seats in Thursday’s by-elections but unexpectedly retained Boris Johnson’s old constituency in a setback for the opposition Labour Party.
The Tories—who are trailing in the polls following a series of scandals—lost two traditional safe seats to Labour and the Liberal Democrats respectively, but held on to the marginal Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency.
Senior Labour MPs have blamed the defeat in the outer London seat on mayor Sadiq Khan’s decision to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to the whole of Greater London, making it more costly to drive and exacerbating the cost-of-living crisis.
Polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice said Labour must ask why its hold on the electorate is “apparently so weak” that when a local issue like the ULEZ comes up they “don’t perform as they should.”
But he told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s party remains in “deep electoral trouble.”
‘Historic Result’
Labour and the Lib Dems have celebrated their wins in traditional safe Tory seats, both overturning majorities of about 20,000.In Selby and Ainsty, 25-year-old Keir Mather will become the youngest MP in the House of Commons after overturning a 20,137 majority.
A similar swing across the country would result in it winning more seats than in Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide, Labour claimed.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “This is a historic result that shows that people are looking at Labour and seeing a changed party that is focused entirely on the priorities of working people with an ambitious, practical plan to deliver.”
He added: “It is clear just how powerful the demand for change is. Voters put their trust in us—many for the first time. After 13 years of Tory chaos, only Labour can give the country its hope, its optimism and its future back.”
For the Lib Dems, a 29.0 percentage point swing in Somerton and Frome saw a 19,213 Tory majority turned into an 11,008-vote cushion for new MP Sarah Dyke.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said the result showed his party was once again winning votes in its former West Country heartland.
“The people of Somerton and Frome have spoken for the rest of the country who are fed up with Rishi Sunak’s out-of-touch Conservative government,” he said.
Backlash over ULEZ
Despite Labour’s success in North Yorkshire, the failure to secure victory in Uxbridge and South Ruislip has led to a blame game among senior figures over the London mayor’s ULEZ plan.Labour candidate Danny Beales had distanced himself from the policy, saying it was “not the right time” to expand the £12.50 daily charge for cars which fail to meet emissions standards.
In his victory speech, new Conservative MP Steve Tuckwell said Mr. Khan had cost Labour the seat.
“It was his damaging and costly ULEZ policy that lost them this election,” he said, adding, “Keir Starmer and his mayor Sadiq Khan need to sit up and listen to the Uxbridge and South Ruislip residents.”
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner also blamed ULEZ for the failure.
She told BBC Breakfast: “The Uxbridge result shows that when you don’t listen to the voters, you don’t win elections.”
General Election Not ‘Done Deal’
Speaking at a cafe in Uxbridge on Friday morning alongside Mr. Tuckwell, the prime minister said the Tories’ surprise victory in the constituency shows the next general election is not a “done deal.”Mr. Sunak said: “Westminster’s been acting like the next election is a done deal. The Labour Party has been acting like it’s a done deal. The people of Uxbridge just told all of them that it’s not.
“No one expected us to win here. But Steve’s victory demonstrates that when confronted with the actual reality of the Labour Party, when there’s an actual choice on a matter of substance at stake, people vote Conservative.”
“That’s what the general election is going to be about. It’s going to be about actual issues that make a difference to people. And that’s what we deliver in the Conservative Party,” he added.
