2023 by-elections: Conservatives hold Boris Johnson's old seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip
The Conservatives have narrowly seen off a Labour victory in Boris Johnson's old constituency, with the by-election loss being blamed on the expansion of a tax on polluting vehicles.
The vote in Uxbridge and South Ruislip 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.
Both Labour and the Tories suggested that the controversial measure played a sizeable role in the election and came up frequently on the doorstep.
ULEZ aims to tackle air pollution and congestion by charging cars that don't meet emission standards £12.50 a day to drive on central London roads.
Mr Khan wants to expand the zone to the borders of the capital, but he's been met with fierce opposition.
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.
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said the policy is something the party will now need to "reflect on", but stopped short of saying Mr Kham should drop his plans.
She told Sky News: "There'll be discussions about the next Labour government, if we were to win a general election, about how we ensure that people can transition and do the right thing.. and also make sure that people have the appropriate compensation."
Ms Rayner added that Uxbridge is "not a Labour seat" and did not even turn red during the party's landslide victory in 1997.
"We came very narrowly to gaining it off the Conservatives, we lost by less than 500 votes last night. Even the Conservative candidate has acknowledged that ULEZ was reason why we didn't win.
"It was only a very small victory for them and we'll continue to put policies forward that's listening to the people across the whole of the United Kingdom to win the next general election".
Those close to Mr Khan defended the policy, with a source saying: "Sadiq has always been clear that expanding the ULEZ was a really difficult decision, but necessary to save the lives of young and vulnerable Londoners."
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The Uxbridge result 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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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.
