The Conservatives are pinning their hopes on a by-election win in Uxbridge and South Ruislip on mayor Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ scheme, which has been a source of contention in the area.
Bereft of any other election-winning policies, Steve Tuckwell is said to be campaigning almost exclusively on the new car tax, that is expanding across all London boroughs on 29 August 2023 with the promise of bringing clean air to five million more people.
Despite ULEZ being a mayoral matter, not a House of Commons issue, residents are being urged to vote Tory (or any one of the 17 other candidates that include Laurence Fox and Count Binface) in a bizarre bit of electioneering.
Khan has been accused of creating a “Western front against the motorist” in the constituency, with tradespeople in particular saying they have been driven to vote Tory on the environmental policy alone.
But one or two of them might be concerned to hear what outgoing MP Boris Johnson had to say on the matter when he was mayor of London.
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Related: Selby, Somerton and Uxbridge by-elections: Key statistics