Sadiq Khan has been issued with an election warning after voters railed against punitive motorist charges to deliver a shock Conservative victory.
The two-time London Mayor is pushing ahead with his Ulez expansion in August and faces re-election in 2024.
The move has proved increasingly controversial, with Labour’s Uxbridge & South Ruislip candidate Danny Beales distancing himself from Khan’s policy.
In a warning sign to Khan, a Conservative candidate romped to victory off the back of disgruntled motorists in opposition to a proposed congestion charge.
The Tory Party claimed its first victory on the Labour-run Cambridge City Council since 2012 when Mohamed Delowar Hossain was elected to serve the residents of King's Hedges.
Chris Carter-Chapman, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for South Cambridgeshire, welcomed the victory.
He told GB News: “The level of public anger around this issue should serve as a warning to others who intend to run roughshod over the legitimate concerns raised by local residents.
“Sadiq Khan is attempting to do exactly that in London and he may well find himself booted out of office at the next election if he doesn’t pause and start listening.”
In a short statement, Carter-Chapman added: “If this flawed policy were to go through, it would cause irreparable harm to the local business community and make day-to-day life much more difficult for many people.
“It will hit the most vulnerable in our society the hardest and is the very definition of a regressive tax.
“In the by-elections in which we have stood on our opposition to the Congestion Charge over the last twelve months, we have seen dramatic swings towards us in Longstanton, Cottenham and now King's Hedges.
“Residents have had enough of being ignored by Labour and the Lib Dems, their voice was certainly heard last night.”
The Labour Party is becoming increasingly split on how to approach Khan’s Ulez expansion to outer London.
Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer said: “I think it is important when we have this discussion to properly recognise the context.
“There is a legal requirement to deal with air pollution. So it is not just a political choice that is made in the abstract... that is why the first Ulez was introduced by a Tory mayor so for the purposes of the by-election it is being used as a party political tool.
“But actually the legal framing of it is there in legislation which nobody can escape and the first to put a Ulez scheme in place were actually a Tory administration.
“But Danny Beales is right to say what he has said in sticking up for what he hopes will be his constituents.”
Khan’s expansion plans will see a £12.50 per day charge for motorists inside the M25 as City Hall vows to improve the capital’s air quality.
The policy is particularly divisive, with 31 per cent of Britons in favour and 39 per cent in opposition.
Support in London stands at 39 per cent and opposition dips to 35 per cent.
However, Tory voters are emphatically against the move while Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green supporters back it.
Opinion polls ahead of next year’s mayoral election hand Khan an eight per cent lead over the undecided Conservative candidate.
Remaining Tory contenders have vowed to scrap the Ulez charge, with frontrunner Susan Hall instead proposing a “common sense environment plan”.
from GB News https://ift.tt/MU1sAQL
Sadiq Khan has been issued with an election warning after voters railed against punitive motorist charges to deliver a shock Conservative victory.
The two-time London Mayor is pushing ahead with his Ulez expansion in August and faces re-election in 2024.
The move has proved increasingly controversial, with Labour’s Uxbridge & South Ruislip candidate Danny Beales distancing himself from Khan’s policy.
In a warning sign to Khan, a Conservative candidate romped to victory off the back of disgruntled motorists in opposition to a proposed congestion charge.
The Tory Party claimed its first victory on the Labour-run Cambridge City Council since 2012 when Mohamed Delowar Hossain was elected to serve the residents of King's Hedges.
Chris Carter-Chapman, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for South Cambridgeshire, welcomed the victory.
He told GB News: “The level of public anger around this issue should serve as a warning to others who intend to run roughshod over the legitimate concerns raised by local residents.
“Sadiq Khan is attempting to do exactly that in London and he may well find himself booted out of office at the next election if he doesn’t pause and start listening.”
In a short statement, Carter-Chapman added: “If this flawed policy were to go through, it would cause irreparable harm to the local business community and make day-to-day life much more difficult for many people.
“It will hit the most vulnerable in our society the hardest and is the very definition of a regressive tax.
“In the by-elections in which we have stood on our opposition to the Congestion Charge over the last twelve months, we have seen dramatic swings towards us in Longstanton, Cottenham and now King's Hedges.
“Residents have had enough of being ignored by Labour and the Lib Dems, their voice was certainly heard last night.”
The Labour Party is becoming increasingly split on how to approach Khan’s Ulez expansion to outer London.
Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer said: “I think it is important when we have this discussion to properly recognise the context.
“There is a legal requirement to deal with air pollution. So it is not just a political choice that is made in the abstract... that is why the first Ulez was introduced by a Tory mayor so for the purposes of the by-election it is being used as a party political tool.
“But actually the legal framing of it is there in legislation which nobody can escape and the first to put a Ulez scheme in place were actually a Tory administration.
“But Danny Beales is right to say what he has said in sticking up for what he hopes will be his constituents.”
Khan’s expansion plans will see a £12.50 per day charge for motorists inside the M25 as City Hall vows to improve the capital’s air quality.
The policy is particularly divisive, with 31 per cent of Britons in favour and 39 per cent in opposition.
Support in London stands at 39 per cent and opposition dips to 35 per cent.
However, Tory voters are emphatically against the move while Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green supporters back it.
Opinion polls ahead of next year’s mayoral election hand Khan an eight per cent lead over the undecided Conservative candidate.
Remaining Tory contenders have vowed to scrap the Ulez charge, with frontrunner Susan Hall instead proposing a “common sense environment plan”.
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