2023 Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election
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| Date | 20 July 2023 |
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The 2023 Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election took place on 20 July 2023, following the resignation of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson as an MP on 12 June 2023.[1]
Labour had been expected to win the by-election, with candidate Danny Beales holding an eight-point lead in the polls over his Conservative opponent ahead of the vote closing.
But Tory Steve Tuckwell retained the seat, saying he was the underdog “from the outset of the campaign” and adding “the polls and the pundits predicted a big Labour win.”
Boris Johnson's 7,210 majority was reduced to just 495 votes at the 2023 Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election.[2]
Candidates
According to the BBC, seventeen candidates stood in the 2023 Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election.[3]
Independents
Four candidates stood as Independents:
- Cameron Bell
- Tom Darwood
- Kingsley Hamilton
- Leo Phaure
Sir Kid Starver
On 19 July 2023, Richard O'Neill tweeted:
- Remember :--Tomorrow you get the chance to put the smug bastard Sir Kid Starver in his place, don't spurn the opportunity!
- These three by-elections are irrelevant, they're temporary till next year, so it's your last chance to give your verdict.
CLP chair resigns
On 21 July 2023, David Williams, chair of the Uxbridge and South Ruislip Constituency Labour Party (CLP), wrote in a tweet:
- "I have resigned as chair of Uxbridge and South Ruislip CLP. I am also resigning my membership of the Labour Party.
- "Politics needs to have principles or we end up with people like Boris Johnson and Liz Truss running the country.
- "Jeremy Corbyn gave a huge boost to the Labour Party."[5]
The same David Williams was the Labour candidate for Uxbridge at the May 1997 General Election, when he reduced a 12,000 Conservative majority in the seat to just 724 votes. Tory MP Sir Michael Shersby died just a week after the General Election, causing a by-election in July 1997. However, left winger David Williams was not well regarded by the New Labour government and failed even to make the shortlist for selection as the Labour candidate in the by-election. This led to at least 30 local Labour activists refusing to work for the by-election campaign in protest at David Williams' rejection as a candidate.
John Randall, the Tory candidate who was elected at the June 1997 Uxbridge by-election, said:
- "Mr Blair now has no choice but to explain to the people of Uxbridge why he ignored the views of a local Labour branch and instead imposed on us a candidate (Andy Slaughter) who has no connection with the area whatsoever."[6]
References
- ↑ "I've been forced out over Partygate report, says Boris Johnson"
- ↑ "Record swing in Selby but Starmer faces ‘serious questions’ as Labour fails to take Uxbridge"
- ↑ "Uxbridge by-election full candidate list revealed"
- ↑ "Tomorrow you get the chance to put the smug bastard Starmer in his place"
- ↑ "Uxbridge Labour association chair quits both job and party saying 'politics needs principles'"
- ↑ "Labour Activist Defects in Uxbridge"
