Bid to unseat Boris Johnson in Uxbridge constituency fails

Boris Johnson giving his victory speech after winning the Uxbridge & Ruislip South constituency in the 2019 General Election. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire. - Credit: PA

Despite attempts to unseat the prime minister, Boris Johnson managed to strengthen his grip on his Westminster seat.

Johnson retained Uxbridge and South Ruislip after finishing 7,210 votes ahead of his Labour opponent, increasing his personal majority by more than 2,000 from 2017.

Johnson was joined by his partner Carrie Symonds and their dog Dilyn at the Indoor Athletics Centre at Brunel University London, in Uxbridge.

Dilyn did not seem phased by the rowdy atmosphere as he was seen yawning minutes before the result was announced, despite being surrounded by photographers.

Labour had been hoping to cause a shock upset by unseating the PM but it failed to materialise.

Johnson appeared on stage where it was confirmed he had defeated Labour’s Ali Milani by 25,351 votes to 18,141.

The Liberal Democrats were a distant third while fringe candidates Count Binface and Lord Buckethead were well back.

In his acceptance speech, Johnson said: “I don’t want to tempt fate because clearly lots of results are still coming in and we’re still only dealing with projections but at this stage it does look as though this one nation Conservative Government has been given a powerful new mandate – to get Brexit done.”

A man dressed as Ronald McDonald shouted “do it” and “no surrender, Boris” as Mr Johnson spoke about Brexit.

The Conservative Party leader went on: “And not just to get Brexit done, but to unite this country and to take it forward and to focus on the priorities of the British people, and above all, on the NHS.”

He repeated campaign slogans on nurses, GPs and hospitals before adding: “And I am grateful, I am grateful once again, to the people of Uxbridge and South Ruislip for returning me to serve you.

“It is an absolute privilege to do this job and to work for you.”

Milani described it as a “disappointing result” for Labour, adding: “Change is coming, it’s just not coming today.”