Inside the crunch battle for Boris Johnson’s constituency as Rishi Sunak faces three by-elections next week
EVERYBODY in Uxbridge is talking about Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak. Except the Tories.
The historic market town has been dubbed “Borisland” and was until recently represented by the ex-PM before he was ousted last year.
Now it is at the heart of national by-election coverage, with the Conservatives facing the prospect of losing three seats in Thursday’s crunch polls.
Traders at Uxbridge’s local market this week declared that they “love Boris” and say he has been “hung, drawn and quartered” by double-crossing critics.
Other locals brand Boris a “liar” and say it is time for a change — time to go Labour.
Saint or sinner. Epoch- defining leader or unscrupulous cheat.
Everyone has an opinion on BoJo — the man who was MP here for eight years, three of them while PM, with a hefty majority of 7,210 at the last ballot.
Ask what they think of PM Rishi and they usually say he seems a nice chap, a good egg trying his best.
Although they wonder aloud if it is too late for him to change things?
Get the economy back up off its knees, restore a bit of pride into UK plc?
“The jury is still out on him,” remarks one trader. “He has come in at an incredibly difficult time.”
But the Tory candidate in Uxbridge — local councillor Steve Tuckwell — does not want to talk about Boris at all.
And he isn’t too forthcoming on Rishi either.
Instead, he is determined to make this by-election all about local issues.
He has three priorities — stop the expansion of Ulez traffic pollution measures, save the local police station and rebuild Hillingdon hospital.
And the most important is stopping Ulez. “It is a referendum on Ulez,” Mr Tuckwell, a former postman, tells me outside Tory HQ in Uxbridge.
Ulez — the expanded London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone — is Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan’s widely hated plan to charge motorists £12.50 a day to drive an older “polluting” car.
The policy is loathed by locals and businesses, who warn it will drive away trade from the town centre.
And the Tories are ramming it home on the doorstep every chance they get.
“The number one topic coming home loud and clear to me on the doorstep is absolute opposition to Sadiq Khan’s expansion of Ulez into this community,” Mr Tuckwell thunders.
“We need to be sending that message loud and clear, because he isn’t listening.”
The election hopeful’s leaflets scream: “Stop the Ulez expansion,” alongside snaps of him enjoying a pint down the local pub.
There is zero mention of Boris. There is no endorsement or message of support from the former PM.
Nor has Boris been out on the campaign trail in his old patch. Isn’t this a bit odd? Mr Tuckwell insists it isn’t.
“Early in the campaign, the first few doors we knocked on, people were asking, ‘Where’s Boris? Are you going to be replacing Boris?’
“But by and large now I would say we have knocked on hundreds if not thousands of doors and people are focused on Ulez, the police station and delivering the hospital.”
It is as if Boris has disappeared without trace. Gone in a puff of smoke.
Rishi makes a passing appearance in print — but is certainly not front and centre of this campaign.
The PM is praised on one leaflet for scrapping house-building targets.
And Rishi made one trip to Uxbridge last month, where he went leafleting on a “randomly picked suburban road”.
But Mr Tuckwell says that even with the PM in tow, the conversations on the doorstep were still all local.
“He came to support me — it wasn’t the other way round,” the wannabe MP said.
Weighty national issues such as mortgage rates and immigration are studiously veered away from.
With the Tories hovering between 15 and 20 points behind in the polls, you can understand why.
Bookies predict the Conservatives will lose this seat — and badly.
Ladbrokes are giving odds of 1/25 on a Labour victory. That means if you bet £25 on a Labour win, you will only pocket £1 profit. “It is barely worth the trip to the bookies,” noted one senior Labour figure with a grin.
Tory Cabinet ministers are gloomy. One who has been out knocking doors predicts they will lose all three by- elections taking place this week — in Uxbridge & South Ruislip, Selby & Ainsty, and Somerton & Frome.
“It will be a clean sweep,” they sighed.
Although privately, Labour figures confess Ulez is toxic and will cost them votes. “Voters absolutely hate it,” one Labour veteran said.
Walking through the town market on a busy weekday afternoon, there is certainly a lot of anger about Ulez — alongside that love for Boris.
Lynne Swann, who works at Baron Wool — a stall selling wool in Uxbridge’s market square — said: “Bring back Boris. Boris for Mayor — that would be much better!”
Lynne’s colleague Sue Bird agreed as she took a swipe at “that pillock” Mr Khan over Ulez.
“It is not about clean air — it’s a stealth tax,” she fumed.
Guy Warrior, 63, who works on a watch stall, shouts over: “I love Boris.
“I think he made some silly mistakes but, if I’m honest with you, I think he has been hung, drawn and quartered by the media.
“He couldn’t do anything right. They managed to get rid of him but they won’t leave him alone.”
The man trying to turn Borisland Labour is 34-year-old Danny Beales.
He was brought up by a single mum in South Ruislip, but they were made homeless when he was a teen. It was this experience, he says, that inspired him to get into politics.
Sensing which way the wind is blowing, Danny is quick to slam Mr Khan’s controversial Ulez policy.
He said: “I have been really clear about Ulez. I think it is the wrong time to introduce the extension when people’s mortgages are going up. I think an extra charge right now is not right.”
He says Mr Khan should “delay the introduction” — but does not rule out backing it when the cost-of-living crisis has eased.
So how does Danny think locals view Boris? “I would say he is a Marmite figure,” he explains over coffee in Uxbridge High Street.
“I meet people who say he is the bee’s knees. He is not a politician. He is great. He been stabbed in the back by the Tory Party.
“And I meet other people who say he lied continually throughout his career, he has been sacked three times for lying, he lied to us when we couldn’t see our family in hospital during lockdown.
“Very few people have no opinion.”
Everyone apart from the Conservatives, it seems.
The odds
Labour to win Uxbridge: 1/25
Labour to win Selby & Ainsty: 1/7
LibDems to win Somerton: 1/50