Cycle track by HS2

[pete75]

I think that's clutching at media commentary rather than actual polling. Also, Uxbridge was more a whipped up fear of ULEZ than any actual experience of it.

It was an actual poll, a parliamentary election - not media commentary. Which actual polls are you talking about?

The opinion polling about why people voted how they did. ULEZ wasn't a major factor, except in a noisy campaign group and the minds of pundits, and even that was all based on fear not reality as it hadn't been implemented there yet.

Really?Not what Keir Starmer says https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66264893 .

[rareposter]

Really?Not what Keir Starmer says https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66264893 .

Both sides cited ULEZ in one form or another as the reason (or one of the reasons) for the result in spite of the fact that both candidates were against it (to varying degrees and in various ways).

So it's really not clear how much of an effect it had although it's an easy one to refer to. The fact is that a historically *very* strongly Conservative borough only just held it by the thinnest of margins so Labour made very significant gains there.

Anyway back on the actual thread topic, cycle lanes alongside HS2 had incredible benefit:cost ratios in all the calculations. Exponentially higher than HS2 itself. Obviously the two modes of travel are very different but the ability to tie a long-distance continuous cycle trail into regional towns unlocked huge benefits for active travel, health etc. It would have been relatively easy to do as well seeing as the makings of a trail are basically there already as you're building the railway. How much of it will actually happen is anyone's guess; the idea has been bounced around a few times in the various stages of HS2 planning and it was one of the first bits to fall victim to cost cutting in spite of the benefits and the fact that it was a tiny marginal extra cost on an already huge budget. It's like buying a top end car but then moaning about the cost of the tyre valve caps.

[pete75]

Really?Not what Keir Starmer says https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66264893 .

Both sides cited ULEZ in one form or another as the reason (or one of the reasons) for the result in spite of the fact that both candidates were against it (to varying degrees and in various ways).

So it's really not clear how much of an effect it had although it's an easy one to refer to. The fact is that a historically *very* strongly Conservative borough only just held it by the thinnest of margins so Labour made very significant gains there.

No really, the Tory vote was down by 7% and Labour up by 6%. In the Selby and Ainsty by-election, held on the same day in a historically much stronger Conservative constituency, Labour were up by 21% and the Tories down by 26%, a similar pattern to other by elections in the past few months.

[Stevek76]

and it was one of the first bits to fall victim to cost cutting

Hmm, not really, that implies it was part of the original scheme & costing that got cut. It was the product of a 2013 or 14 study (well after hs2 was already doing its own thing) being treated as a standalone project but looking to take advantage of HS2 construction. The actual study area was more sensibly a 6 mile wide corridor following the hs2 route. It never made it past that first study I suspect mostly as the then government didn't really care about cycling.

[Stevek76]

No really, the Tory vote was down by 7% and Labour up by 6%. In the Selby and Ainsty by-election, held on the same day in a historically much stronger Conservative constituency, Labour were up by 21% and the Tories down by 26%, a similar pattern to other by elections in the past few months.

Selby was labour in the Blair years, Uxbridge/Ruislip-Northwood were tory back as far as it goes. Really quite a different set of demographics. It's not just a matter of looking at swings.

[pete75]

No really, the Tory vote was down by 7% and Labour up by 6%. In the Selby and Ainsty by-election, held on the same day in a historically much stronger Conservative constituency, Labour were up by 21% and the Tories down by 26%, a similar pattern to other by elections in the past few months.

Selby was labour in the Blair years, Uxbridge/Ruislip-Northwood were tory back as far as it goes. Really quite a different set of demographics. It's not just a matter of looking at swings.

The Selby and Ainsty constituencey didn't exist in the Blair years, neither did the Uxbridge constituency.

[Stevek76]

That's why I called it Selby without the 'and Ainsty'. The bulk of the current constituency was that one and was labour in the Blair years (the smaller part from a rural constituency was not)

Similarly i used Uxbridge as that did exist, along with the other ex constituency that contributed to the current 'Uxbridge and South Ruislip', Ruislip-Northwood, both of those were Tory for eons.

You've got monied younger London I'm alright jack Tories in one and Yorkshire far more swingy voters in the other, straight swing comparisons are fairly futile.