Boris Johnson faces tough fight to hold onto his constituency in upcoming election, sparking rumours he could switch to safer seat
- He is MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, where he has majority of 5,034 over Labour
- It would take a swing of just over 5 per cent for Labour to snatch the seat
- Would make Johnson the first PM to lose his seat in an election in modern times
Boris Johnson is MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, where he has a majority of just 5,034 over Labour
Boris Johnson faces a tough fight to hold his own constituency – leading to claims he could switch to a safer seat to avoid the risk of humiliation.
The Prime Minister is MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, where he has a majority of just 5,034 over Labour.
It would take a swing of just over 5 per cent for Labour to snatch the seat – and Momentum is set to target it with hundreds of volunteers knocking on doors.
Their ‘Unseat Boris’ campaign would make Mr Johnson the first premier to lose his seat in an election in modern times.
Labour claims he will announce in the next few days that he will take the ‘chicken run’ and stand for a seat with a much larger Tory majority.
Downing Street however described the rumours as ‘tosh and nonsense’.
A source said: ‘The PM is focused on delivering Brexit and on the needs of the people of Uxbridge. It’s untrue.’
Uxbridge in west London – traditionally a true blue seat – has been represented by Mr Johnson since 2015.
When he first stood, he clocked up a respectable majority of 10,695.
But in Theresa May’s disastrous election of 2017, this had halved to 5,034. A similar decline in his vote this time would see him lose his seat.
Labour has chosen Ali Milani, a 25-year-old Muslim as their candidate to succeed him.
No sitting prime minister has lost his seat in an election in modern times.
The nearest example is Tory leader Arthur Balfour who lost his seat in January 1906. However he had already resigned as prime minister along with his entire government in December 1905.
Labour has chosen Ali Milani, 25, as their candidate to succeed Mr Johnson. No sitting prime minister has lost his seat in an election in modern times
On Monday, Labour MP Stephen Doughty said he had heard Mr Johnson was looking at safer seats such as Sevenoaks, which is currently held by departing former Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon.
He said: ‘Is he aware of the interesting rumour that has reached my ears that the Prime Minister might be planning not to stand in his own constituency at an upcoming general election, and that he has apparently instead lined up Sevenoaks or East Yorkshire?’
Mr Doughty had to apologise for citing East Yorkshire, because the MP for that seat – Greg Knight – is not retiring.