But according to political analysts, the Tories could be reading too much into their 495-vote win in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. The swing to Labour there would still erase the Tories’ majority if repeated nationwide in 2024.
“There aren’t that many straws that the Conservatives can clutch at now and Uxbridge is one,” said Tim Bale, politics professor at Queen Mary, University of London. Pushing back the ban on new fossil-fuel cars is consistent with Sunak’s own politics, he said, as well as the party’s recent trend to import US Republican-style culture wars to the UK including on climate skepticism.
Bloomberg