'Truly historic result in Selby'

MP for Ellesmere Port

ONLY very tired political aficionados stayed up early on Friday for the results of three by-elections.

A triple whammy of Parliamentary by-elections on the same day is rare indeed and it turned out there was something to cheer for punters of all three main political persuasions.

I was of course delighted for 25-year-old Keir Mather after his tremendous success for Labour in the Selby and Ainsty seat in North Yorkshire. To manage to overturn a 20,000 majority in a Conservative stronghold and create a 4,000 majority of your own is no mean feat and I am pleased that I and other west Cheshire activists were able to play our part in helping Keir to earn a magnificent achievement.

Our truly historic result in Selby shows voters are looking at Labour and seeing a changed party focused entirely on the priorities of working people with an ambitious practical plan to deliver which was reflected with the largest swing to the Labour Party from the Conservatives since the early 1990's.

Over in the West Country there was evidence that the Liberal Democrats are now back in contention in seats where, traditionally, they have been in a two-horse races with the Conservatives. Sarah Dyke, the Lib Dem candidate, overturned a 19,000 Conservative majority in Somerton and Frome in Somerset and managed to create a 11,000 majority of her own. If replicated across parts of the South West, there is little doubt that many Tory MPs will be handed their P45s at the next General Election.

Of course, successes in political have to be measured against losses so there is no hiding that we in the Labour Party are massively disappointed by our narrow failure to wrench former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat away from the Tories – by fewer than 500 votes.

Just as much work went into trying to win that north London seat – for the first time – but it was not to be sadly, although we did achieve a swing of just under seven per cent from Conservatives to Labour.

A great deal of soul-searching will inevitably take place now among the Labour hierarchy as to the reasons why the Conservatives were allowed to convert the single issue cause of the Ulez – the Ultra-Low Emissions Zone – into electoral success. Especially so when it was Boris Johnson himself who introduced the policy during the time he was Mayor of London, although it took effect in April 2019 when Labour’s Sadiq Khan had become Mayor.

The aim of the scheme, which is already enforced in London’s Congestion Zone and on North and South Circular roads, is to improve the air quality of our capital city but the decision to broaden out the policy to all London boroughs has not gone down well, especially as a £12.50 daily charge will apply for driving in the Ulez if the vehicle does not meet certain emission standards. This result has served as a reminder that despite large poll leads and big by election wins for the Labour Party, success at the next General Election cannot be taken for granted.