By-elections are also taking place in Selby and Ainsty in North Yorkshire and Somerton and Frome in Somerset in votes that will indicate the public’s attitudes to the main parties as MPs break for summer and ahead of a general election that will take place within the next 18 months.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told colleagues on Wednesday night that his party faced a “tough battle” to hold on to the seats and some pollsters have suggested the Tories could lose all three.
Labour hopes to bag Uxbridge and South Ruislip as well as Selby and Ainsty – vacated by Mr Johnson’s ally Nigel Adams’ resignation.
The Liberal Democrats are eyeing victory in the contest in Somerton and Frome that was triggered by David Warburton quitting following allegations of drug use and sexual harassment.
If the Conservatives lose all the seats it will be the first time in 55 years that a government has been defeated in three by-elections on the same day.
In a Cabinet meeting earlier this week party chairman Greg Hands briefed senior MPs that they should brace for losses.
Number 10 then published an unredacted photo of his notes on social media with warnings of a “challenging night” scrawled in red ink.
The west London seat of Uxbridge and West Ruislip has been held continuously by the Conservatives since its creation in 2010. Boris Johnson won 53% of the vote in 2019. The former Prime Minister quit as the constituency MP in June after the priviliges committee ruled he had deliberately misled parliament.
Labour’s candidate in Uxbridge said “enough is enough” as he urged people to reject the Tories and vote for him as polls opened in the constituency earlier.
“Enough is enough,” Danny Beales said in a tweet with a video showing him meeting with locals in the area.
“Vote for change and vote Labour.”
Mr Beales will have to overturn a 7,000 majority if he is to win the seat for his party. Conservative candidate Steve Tuckwell, a local councillor for South Ruislip, said hehad been working “incredibly hard” to secure a victory, despite a recent poll, which gave Mr Beales an eight-point lead.
The North Yorkshire constituency of Selby and Ainsty was created at the 2010 general election and has always been held by the Conservatives. Its former MP Nigel Adams won just over 60% of the vote in 2019.
Meanwhile Somerton & Frome has a long history of being a two-horse race between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. Tory David Warburton took nearly 56% of the vote in 2019.
The results are expected in the early hours of Friday morning.
