London, Thanasis Gavos

The parliamentary seat in Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London, previously held by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is being contested by the Conservatives from the Labor Party of the British official opposition.

This is one of the three districts in which by-elections are being held today. In all cases the elections were caused by the resignation of Conservative MPs.

Mr Johnson was elected by a relatively slim majority of 7,210 votes in the 2019 election, with opinion polls showing Labor has a strong claim to the seat.

Mr Johnson’s close ally Nigel Adams has given up his seat of Selby and Ainsty in North Yorkshire, despite winning 2019 by more than 20,000 votes over second-placed Labour.

David Warburton MP for Somerton and Frome constituency in Somerset, having been elected with the Tories but having been an independent MP since last year, also resigned. The Liberal Democrats were ranked second there in 2019.

The election process is seen by political commentators as a gauge of the true degree of voter dissatisfaction with the Conservative government, which is trailing Labor significantly in the polls.

Polls in all three regions will close at 10pm local time and results are expected on Friday morning.