A dozen Labour candidates at next election back ULEZ and other schemes

A dozen Labour candidates at the next general election revealed to have backed ULEZ and other low traffic schemes

• London mayor Sadiq Khan expanded ULEZ to cover all of London this week
• Alistair Strathern, who will stand for Labour in Mid Bedfordshire, is pro-LTNs

A dozen Labour candidates at the next general election are current or former councillors at London town halls which backed anti-car measures such as low-traffic neighbourhoods and Ulez.

The candidates, many of whom have spoken out in support of the schemes, are being put up by Labour in seats across Britain.

It will raise fears the party will export its hated ‘green’ measures across the country if it wins the next election. This week London mayor Sadiq Khan pressed ahead with his expansion of the ultra-low emission zone to cover all of London, despite huge protests over the daily £12.50 driving charge.

Now analysis by the Daily Mail shows a number of candidates being fielded by Labour have been supportive of the schemes or played a part in their roll-out.

One may win a seat even before the election. Alistair Strathern, a councillor for Waltham Forest Council in east London which has embraced low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), will stand for Labour this autumn in the Mid Bedfordshire byelection sparked by Tory MP Nadine Dorries’s resignation at the weekend. 

This week London mayor Sadiq Khan pressed ahead with his expansion of the ultra-low emission zone to cover all of London

He played a key role in the roll-out of the schemes across roughly half of the borough as the cabinet member for ’15 Minute Neighbourhoods’.

And in March he tweeted: ‘Ulez will play a vital role in tackling shocking levels of pollution in outer London.’

Meanwhile, Steve Race, Labour’s candidate for Exeter, has been a councillor for neighbouring Hackney Council while it has rolled out 17 LTNs. 

Polly Billington, standing in South Thanet in Kent, is also a councillor for Hackney and has defended the expansion of Ulez.

Jessica Toale, candidate for Bournemouth West, is a councillor on Labour-led City of Westminster Council, which backs Ulez and hiking fines for non-compliance.

Alistair Strathern, a councillor for Waltham Forest Council in east London which has embraced low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), will stand for Labour this autumn in the Mid Bedfordshire byelection

Damien Egan, Bristol North East candidate, is the mayor of Lewisham, south east London, and backed one of its many LTNs on the grounds that ‘the world is facing a climate emergency and we urgently need to do more’.

READ MORE: Overnight workers face paying £12.50 ULEZ charge twice if shift goes past midnight, mayor of London is warned 

Juliet Campbell, candidate for Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire, was also a Lewisham councillor while it rolled out its LTNs, as were Joani Reid, who will stand in East Kilbride and Strathaven, and Kevin Bonavia, in Stevenage.

Helena Dollimore, standing in Hastings and Rye, is a councillor on Merton Council and green-lighted its introduction of LTNs, while Adam Jogee, candidate for Newcastle-under-Lyme and Haringey councillor, did the same.

Luke Charters, candidate for York Outer, was a councillor for Newham Council while it rolled out LTNs, and Alice MacDonald, in Norwich North, sat on Southwark Council while it expanded its LTNs.

David Simmonds, Tory MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, said: ‘The Uxbridge by-election showed just how unpopular Labour policies are.

‘Selecting pro-LTN and Ulez candidates everywhere shows Labour are putting metropolitan, inner-city policies ahead of the needs of diverse communities. Rural and suburban voters beware.’

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