Why dud Labour lose Uxbridge? Was it really because of ULEZ or some other reason?

I’m sure ULEZ was part of the problem, however Johnson is more popular than many realize and many think he was “hard done by”

I’m so grateful I’m not in that position, reliant on a Motability car. Would I still receive visitors if I lived in a ULEZ and they had non-compliant cars? People can so easily become isolated, even in an urban area.

Germanshepherdsmum

My petrol car is ULEZ compliant. My husband’s diesel is not. So if we were affected by ULEZ he would have to pay the charge or buy another car. Of course it’s entirely possible that if we were affected by ULEZ his would be our only car, we wouldn’t be able to afford to change it and we would be sufficiently disabled to be unable to use public transport. What then?

I don't know. DH was disabled and had a Motability car. As you have to change them every 3/5 years, they are compliant anyway.

My petrol car is ULEZ compliant. My husband’s diesel is not. So if we were affected by ULEZ he would have to pay the charge or buy another car. Of course it’s entirely possible that if we were affected by ULEZ his would be our only car, we wouldn’t be able to afford to change it and we would be sufficiently disabled to be unable to use public transport. What then?

DiamondLily

Well, Uxbridge is a London borough so he wasn't parachuted in miles, unlike in some constituencies.

The Tory candidate turned it into a ULEZ issue and many voters are unhappy about it.

Sometimes, elections become a one issue thing, as Brexit did in 2019, which won Tories such a huge majority.

Next time, ULEZ won't be an issue. Brexit won't be an issue in the GE either.

He was actually born there but hadn't lived there for years. It seems local labour did not support him. labourlist.org/2023/07/what-went-wrong-in-uxbridge-a-view-from-the-constituency-labour-party/

I bought a ULEZ compatible car last year without even trying, a Hyundai i120, no more expensive that any other compatibly sized car for its year. In fact, I thought I was getting a lot for my money.

DiamondLily

No, it wouldn't, but it would please a lot of others. Carers, nurses, low paid workers, deliverers and others are going nuts in my borough (Bromley) if they live here or have to drive in from places like outer Kent to work here.

Quite, I live in a outer London Borough, and ULEZ is not liked by alot of people.

Well, Uxbridge is a London borough so he wasn't parachuted in miles, unlike in some constituencies.

The Tory candidate turned it into a ULEZ issue and many voters are unhappy about it.

Sometimes, elections become a one issue thing, as Brexit did in 2019, which won Tories such a huge majority.

Next time, ULEZ won't be an issue. Brexit won't be an issue in the GE either.

If that was the reason it’s not going to affect the general election result, because all parties do exactly the same. I speak from experience, we’ve got a Tory MP parachuted in from Cardiff where I am.

Grantanow

I read the article. The reasons for the Uxbridge outcome are probably numerous and depend on individual voters but ULEZ
was clearly an issue worth the locally based Tory winner campaigning on. I think parachuting in a candidate from London when the local Labour (in this case) party had a list of local candidates smacks of arrogance and would turn off some activists from helping. It happens too often in my opinion and sends a message that local wishes don't count.

I agree. Activists understandably feel more enthusiastic about someone they know and have chosen themselves.

I read the article. The reasons for the Uxbridge outcome are probably numerous and depend on individual voters but ULEZ
was clearly an issue worth the locally based Tory winner campaigning on. I think parachuting in a candidate from London when the local Labour (in this case) party had a list of local candidates smacks of arrogance and would turn off some activists from helping. It happens too often in my opinion and sends a message that local wishes don't count.

No, it wouldn't, but it would please a lot of others. Carers, nurses, low paid workers, deliverers and others are going nuts in my borough (Bromley) if they live here or have to drive in from places like outer Kent to work here.

Abolishing ULEZ would be a very backward step, and certainly wouldn't please the people that have already changed their vehicles in order to comply.

Knowing the high anti -ULEZ feelings in the outer boroughs, (or mine and the neighbouring boroughs at least), I do think it had something to do with that.

The Tory candidate pushed the issue as Labour policy, and the Labour candidate tried to disassociate himself from it.

By the next GE, we will have had the mayoral election, where Khan might be ousted, and the Tory candidate has said she'll abolish ULEZ.

Either way, it won't be an issue in the GE.

So Labour imposed a candidate no one locally wanted, then ran a terrible campaign, which included reversing a policy mid-campaign, and a confused doorstep approach, and they only lost by about 500 votes. If the same thing happens in the next GE there won't be a Labour government. I wonder if Starmer is beginning to realise that?

I’m rather fed up of it being constantly being pointed out by the media that Labour lost Uxbridge when it was a case of the Conservatives retaining it.

From memory the academic on RS ‘s podcast found that there were false accounts who were able to break algorithms being set up on social media, which picked up on the ULEZ issue and ensured that the issue was trending constantly on platforms like twitter, Facebook and the like. The outcome was that this became a major issue amongst the voters as opposed to so many other issues.

The question is who were the drivers of these false accounts. It is expected that this will get worse in the run up to the election.

Rory Stewart confirmed that this happens as when running for mayor he was approached by at least 2 companies who offered to do just this guaranteeing him a win.

I think this phenomena was around during Brexit, and am very worried about its implication on our democracy.

Whitewavemark2

Well, I was listening to Rory Stewart yesterday talking about this very thing. He had in turn been talking to someone - an academic who studies these things - who had monitored and studied Uxbridge before and during the run up to the election.

In the ancademics opinion, this was won by social media, and algorithms - I need to listen again to give more intelligent detail, but it was convincing and quite frankly worrying.

Some independent research on the algorithms

question we should all be asking is who is behind the funding.

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1684591764160536578.html

Uxbridge is a Tory voting area, and remained that way, with a much reduced majority.

Some areas vote for a party, regardless of what's going on.

My area is "true blue" and Labour will never win here. As they used to say "they weigh the votes" - no one comes near to touching the Tory MP.

As it happens, Tory or not, he's a pretty good MP for constituents.🙂

According to the YouGov survey done after the last election, Foxygloves is right. Social groups C2DE were more likely to vote Tory. Age was also a major determining factor.
yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2019/12/17/how-britain-voted-2019-general-election

I would say more ‘poor’ people vote for the right wing parties than left wing ones over here. Perhaps it is different there.

‘^The poor … would not be voting Conservative anyway^’. How arrogant and presumptuous.

M0nica

I have said from the start that blaiming ULEZ for the Conservative victory was misleading. Most cars are ULEZ compatible anyway, so there would not be enough votes in i.

As for blaming 'the poor' who would have to sell their old ULEZ cars to buy new ones (???????), they would not be voting Conservative anyway.

Most cars/vans are not necessarily ULEZ compatible but , perhaps more significantly the price of a ULEZ compatible used (replacement) car can be up to £2k more for a medium sized vehicle such as a Golf, for instance.
The “poor” as just as likely to be Conservative voters, indeed possibly more likely judging by the demographic of DM readers and certainly less likely than professionals in fashionable Islington or trendy Hackney!
Whether or not this was a significant factor needs to be addressed by the bean counters in each of the major parties, but one thing is certain, sweeping generalisations are likely to be misleading.

Sunak definitely has his eye on the blue collar worker, thus all his statements lately.

As for blaming 'the poor' who would have to sell their old ULEZ cars to buy new ones (???????), they would not be voting Conservative anyway.

I'm not so sure you're correct there, MOnica. 'The poor' can be just as irrational as any other voter. And are often very, small 'c', conservative.