It will be “very difficult” for the Conservatives to hold on to Boris Johnson’s former seat at the by-election this week, the Tory candidate admitted on Monday.
Steve Tuckwell, a Hillingdon councillor, has tried to frame the vote in Uxbridge and South Ruislip as a “referendum” on Sadiq Khan’s expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) to Greater London.
but on the doorstep he has been forced to defend cost living pressures blamed on central government polices.
Mr Johnson, who triggered the by-election after a damning report found he had lied to Parliament over the Partygate scandal, has not campaigned in his former seat and Conservative leaflets do not make reference to the ex-prime minister.
Labour candidate Danny Beales has an eight-point lead in the race, according to a recent poll for the Evening Standard.
Mr Tuckwell said: “Boris Johnson’s name is not on the ballot paper. Mine is.
“Pundits and pollsters are predicting that this is going to be a Labour win, so that is giving me additional motivation to work as incredibly hard as I can.
“It’s no illusion that this is going to be very difficult, but I’m incredibly motivated to earn every vote.”
Mr Tuckwell argued that the clean air zone expansion to outer London, which will see residents with the most polluting vehicles face a £12.50-a-day charge from August, could not come at a worse time for those already struggling with bills.
He told the Standard: “I’ve been a councillor for five years, followed politics for many years as an observer and can genuinely say that I’ve never come across a single issue that’s generated so much anger, frustration and annoyance as Sadiq Khan’s expansion of the Ulez.
“It’s £4,500 a year, that’s the impact it’s going to have on families.
“Just up the road you’ve got where Dick Turpin used to be active. We’ve got highway robbery past and present. The Ulez expansion is modern day highway robbery for the residents of Uxbridge & South Ruislip.”
Mr Beales has also now expressed his opposition to the expansion going ahead in August, calling for a delay.
Labour on Monday highlighted how economic turmoil and soaring interest rates were hitting home owners in the borough.
Analysis by the party revealed that a £214,000 deposit is now needed for first time buyers in the constituency to keep their mortgage payments at the same level as a year ago.
Labour said the amount was more than double that needed for a 20 per cent deposit last year.
“Across Uxbridge and South Ruislip, people are being hit hard by a Tory mortgage bombshell,” Mr Beales said.
“Unlike this government, Labour will not stand by as millions face a mortgage catastrophe made in Downing Street.”
Mr Beales, a Camden councillor, also pointed to a report by the spending watchdog that showed the government is likely to miss its target to build 40 new hospitals by 2030.
The National Audit Office the project, introduced under Mr Johnson’s government, has been plagued by delays and cost cutting.
Hillingdon is one of those impacted.
Mr Beales said: “This damning report shows that the Tory government has not provided the money for a new Hillingdon Hospital - and it won’t be completed before 2030.“This leaves the Conservative candidate’s credibility in tatters.”
At the 2019 general election, Mr Johnson won a majority of 7,210 in Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
There are 17 candidates running in the London by-election on Thursday, including two anti-Ulez independent parties, former actor Laurence Fox, Count Binface, and Jeremy Corbyn’s brother Piers.
The candidates are: Cameron Bell (Independent), Count Binface (Count Binface Party), Jeremy Corbyn’s brother Piers Corbyn (Let London Live), Laurence Fox (Reclaim Party), Sarah Green (Green Party), Richard Hewison (Rejoin EU), Rebecca Jane (Ukip), Enomfon Ntefon (Christian People’s Alliance), Leo Phaure (Independent), 77 Joseph (Independent), Kingsley Hamilton (Independent), Ed Gemmell (Climate Party), Steve Gardner (Social Democratic Party).
There are two other by-eletions taking place this week.
Labour is predicted to win in Selby and Ainsty in North Yorkshire, where Mr Johnson ally Nigel Adams has stepped aside, while the Lib Dems are expected to take the Somerton and Frome seat in Somerset vacated by David Warburton.
