A senior Labour leader in Uxbridge and South Ruislip has quit the party and didn’t hold back with his criticism of the party and the labour leader.
Labour took Selby and Anisty, the Lib Dems to Somerton and Frome, but failed to take former PM Boris Johnson’s seat.
The retention of former prime minister Johnson’s seat just outside central London by fewer than 500 votes ensured Sunak avoided becoming the first British leader to lose three by-elections on a single day in more than half a century, reports Reuters.
The winning Conservative candidate, Steve Tuckwell, pointed to local rather than national factors, largely the issue of London’s Labour mayor extending the ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) meaning some Uxbridge voters had to pay more for cars.
Labour leader in Uxbridge and South Ruislip quits
David Williams tweeted: “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.”
He claimed that ‘Local people were excluded from the campaign. It was run totally by London Region.’
One person on Twitter wrote: “I think this tells us everything we need to know about why Labour didn’t make it over the line in Uxbridge. The Corbyn fantasy.”
He tweeted in response: “That would make sense if any local people were allowed to be in the campaign. From having the local selection committee disbanded by London Region in Dec 2022 up until the final result no post holder locally as been allowed to be involved.”
Momentum tweeted: “Starmer’s stitch-ups are weakening the Labour Party as a campaigning force. In tight elections like this one, that matters.”
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