The High Court has ruled London's planned ULEZ expansion is lawful.

Our most recent polling finds 47% of Londoners support and 32% oppose the planned expansion.

However, in Outer London, opinion is split (39% each), and more than a quarter of voters (27%) are STRONGLY opposed. pic.twitter.com/y9Jki0Uc9b

— Redfield & Wilton Strategies (@RedfieldWilton) July 28, 2023

In last week’s by-elections, there was one result that stood out for being very different from the rest. This was the Tory hold in Johnson’s old seat of Hillingdon.

Ever since I have wondered whether the Tory campaign there will be a model of what we will see when the general election actually happens.

The blues focused on the expansion of ULEZ – the scheme initially brought in by Mayor Johnson to ensure that those who drive non-compliant cars should pay £12.50 a day charge. This comes in at the end of next month.

I’m far from convinced and put down the LAB failure to take that seat down to the party’s not to have anticipated the row that ULEZ would create.

As it turns out 80-90% of cars are already ULEZ compliant so their owners would not be affected. In any case the Tories could be attacked for not caring about air quality.

Mike Smithson