Anti-Ulez vote helped Tories win in Uxbridge, but has pro-car agenda failed? | 2024 general election

Six weeks may be a long time in politics, but for pedestrians trying to cross the expressway to get to the shops and library on Yiewsley High Street, it seems even longer.

The traffic lights have not worked since May 3, when they were vandalized by anti-Ulez demonstrators. It is a side effect of so-called Blade Runner attacks on cameras placed above traffic lights to monitor cars as they enter and exit London's Uxbridge ultra-low emissions zone.

The batteries in the temporary lights keep running out, said Frank Leahy, a partner at FLC, a car dealership on the corner of the intersection. So no one knows who can go. It's dangerous. Dump trucks pass through.

Leahy is not a fan of Ulez, like many voters in this west London constituency. Uxbridge and South Ruislip was once Boris Johnson's ward, and after the disgraced ex-Prime Minister resigned as an MP, the ensuing by-election saw the Conservative candidate win by 495 votes.

map

This surprise result reset political thinking on green issues. Rishi Sunak has started talking about a war on motorists, while Labor abandoned its 28 billion green investment pledge in February and Keir Starmer asked London Mayor Sadiq Khan to think about it. policy.

It's still a big problem, along with crime, for Jackie Masterson-Bird, whose partner has to pay 12.50 a day to drive his diesel car to work in Guildford. She hates the vandalism and the risks to pedestrians but thinks the solution is to get rid of Ulez. I just sympathize with people who have older cars and have to pay to buy groceries, she said.

But even though she voted for Conservative Steve Tuckwell in the by-election, he cannot count on her support this time. Maybe we need total, total change, she says, unsure of what that means. If anything, I might go to the Reform Party. But I really don't know.

And green issues remain important to him. Just a short walk from the traffic lights is Colne Valley Regional Park, crisscrossed by the Rivers Colne and Fray, with Little Britain Lake between them. It is a pleasant place to walk, but this year has often been inaccessible because the Fray has overflowed. When you were a kid, you could swim there and feed the ducks that people caught, she said. I went there three weeks ago to walk the dog and it was completely flooded. I didn't even get out of the car.

So, were the parties right to moderate their green policies? Khan was re-elected with a substantial majority and little change in his vote share in outer London boroughs where anti-Ulez sentiment is strongest. And here in Uxbridge, Labor is expected to comfortably end Tuckwell's brief stint in Parliament.

Oliver Lord, UK head of the Clean Cities pollution campaign, said: “It certainly seems that the focus on Ulez was a political gamble that has not paid off. There has been a lot of blatant scaremongering. The decimation of local journalism has forced people to get much of their news from social media.

ignore previous newsletter promotion

after newsletter promotion

The by-election definitely led to a weak Labor Party manifesto, he added. It indicates that the car remains by far the most popular means of transport. They may be the most used, but many people in this country are forced to use their cars. In some areas of England, bus services have lost half of their offer since 2011.

But Lord is pleased with Labor's commitment to phasing out new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030 and improving electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Discussions around rail reform and discussions of a long-term transportation strategy are cautiously optimistic.

Paul Foley, a former civil servant who liked Conservative MP John Randall until 2015 when he was replaced by Johnson, is also optimistic. Foley lost his confidence when this clown took over.

I was appalled by this man and everything he stood for, he said, and I'm not impressed with Johnson's replacement.

Tuckwell's focus is on a chip shop, he adds, referring to Conservative candidates' campaign to bring fish and chips to Uxbridge town center five years on, apparently vote against the building permit to begin with when he was a local councillor.

It's like Yes Minister, says the 57-year-old, referring to an episode of Jim Hackers' campaign to save the British sausage from the Eurocrats, which turns out to be a Johnsonian Euromyth. Foley is a fan of Ulez and says the air quality is better now, although he doesn't consider it a big problem. We need a change, he said. Work, 100%.

For other Yiewsley High Street voters, Ulez and green issues are not a priority. Vida Amos, who works in customer service at nearby Heathrow, is a loyal Conservative voter and her main concern is gender issues, although she dislikes Ulez and thinks the climate crisis is a hoax.

Retired organic chemistry professor Arthur Farrow will vote Labor due to the cost of living crisis and the fallout from the ridiculous Brexit. He is favorable to Ulez. Unless you're driving a 1920s traction engine, you're not concerned, he says. I have a 15 year old Skoda which is no problem.

Here too, young voters are making up their minds. Josh Frost, a 22-year-old cricket coach, worries about the economy and thinks Ulez looks like an additional tax. We are dealing with what is happening on our own streets, we have to take care of ourselves, he said. He is leaning towards the liberal-democratic vote. Josh Blake, an 18-year-old PE teacher, also leans Lib Dem and is also unhappy with Ulez, although the cost of living is his main issue.