Labour hit the panic button on ULEZ today after Sadiq Khan’s hated plan saved Rishi Sunak from the historic shame of a triple by-election defeat.

Frontbenchers warned Keir Starmer will need to look again at the plans to expand the driver charging zone after failing to take 

The London Mayor was branded the ‘loser of the night’ after the Tories unexpectedly clung on to Boris Johnson’s old seat by 500 votes.

However, the wider picture for Mr Sunak was grim – with the alarming sight of Labour comfortably overturning a massive majority to gain the former stronghold of Selby & Ainsty.

The Conservatives were also trounced by the Liberal Democrats in Somerton & Frome as their 19,000-vote margin from the last general election crumbled.

Amid mounting signs of a Lib-Lab electoral pact to boost their chances in target seats, Ed Davey’s party lost its deposit in Selby while Sir Keir’s suffered the same fate in Somerton. 

The Tories’ new Uxbridge MP Steve Tuckwell admitted his victory was down to the unpopularity of ULEZ. Labour frontbenchers said the party must now ‘reflect’ on the policy.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said ‘there is no getting away from’ the fact that ULEZ was ‘the major issue’. She warned people ‘can’t afford’ the levy amid the cost of living crisis – but blamed the government for failing to fund a scrappage scheme. 

‘The Uxbridge result shows that when you don’t listen to the voters, you don’t win elections,’ she said. 

Pollsters suggested the outcome has implications for swing seats near London such as Harlow and Thurrock. 

There is speculation that Mr Sunak could carry out a reshuffle soon to try and move on from the body blows – although No10 has signalled it will not be today. 

After being declared the by-election winner after a recount of votes, Mr Tuckwell said: ‘This message from Uxbridge and South Ruislip residents is clear; Sadiq Khan has lost Labour this election and we know it was his damaging and costly ULEZ policy that lost them this election.’

The Tory victory in Uxbridge means Mr Sunak escapes becoming the first PM for 55 years – since Labour’s Harold Wilson in 1968 – to lose three seats at by-elections on the same day. 

But the bad results in Somerton and Selby will rattle Tory MPs already worried about their chances of keeping Labour out of power at the general election, which is expected next year.

A Labour source pointed to Selby and Ainsty being a ‘true blue’ Tory seat near to Mr Sunak’s own constituency.

The victory was the largest Conservative majority overturned by Labour at a by-election since 1945, after the Tories won the seat with a 20,000-vote majority at the 2019 general election.

The previous record was set at the Mid Staffordshire by-election in March 1990, when Labour overturned a Tory majority of 14,654. 

The source said Labour’s win showed ‘colossal progress’ and was a ‘real disaster’ for the Tories.

They claimed a similar swing to Labour across constituencies at the general election would give them more House of Commons seats than they won under Tony Blair in 1997.

Sir Keir said: ‘This is an historic result that shows that people are looking at Labour and seeing a changed party that is focused entirely on the priorities of working people with an ambitious, practical plan to deliver.

‘Keir Mather will be a fantastic MP who will deliver the fresh start Selby and Ainsty deserves.

‘It is clear just how powerful the demand for change is. Voters put their trust in us — many for the first time.

‘After 13 years of Tory chaos, only Labour can give the country its hope, its optimism and its future back.’

In his victory speech, Mr Mather – who will now become the youngest MP in the Commons at the age of 25 – said the party had ‘rewritten the rules on where Labour can win’, adding: ‘People have opened their doors to us and embraced our positive vision for the future.’

Tory chairman Greg Hands claimed his party’s defeat in Selby & Ainsty was mainly driven by Conservative voters staying home.

He told GB News: ‘Clearly we’re disappointed by the result in Selby and Ainsty. We had a fantastic candidate in Claire Holmes.

‘What I would say is that result was driven largely by Conservative voters, previous Conservative voters, staying home.

‘Clearly we’ve got work to do to win back the trust and confidence, we don’t deny that.

‘Rishi Sunak has been in office now for nine months working very hard against the five priorities of halving inflation, restoring growth, reducing debt, cutting hospital waiting lists and stopping the boats. That is still work in progress.

‘We’ll be fighting hard to regain that constituency next year.’

But it was not all good news for Sir Keir following Labour’s failure to also take Uxbridge & South Ruislip off the Tories. 

Ms Rayner told BBC Breakfast her mood was ‘one of reflection’.

‘I mean, congratulations to Keir Mather in Selby because it was a historic win, but we’ve got to keep our feet on the ground and, of course, Uxbridge wasn’t the result, we narrowly lost again in that seat,’ she said.

‘I think one of the things we have to reflect on today is not only the mood against the Tories, but also the decision in Uxbridge was related to Ulez.

‘The Uxbridge result shows that when you don’t listen to the voters, you don’t win elections.’

Labour’s shadow justice secretary Steve Reed suggested Mr Khan needed to ‘reflect’ on the by-election result in Uxbridge & South Ruislip, as Labour would be doing ‘even better’ if the policy changed.

‘I think there’s been a number of issues at play, but there has certainly been a number of voters who have said to us that they are very concerned about ULEZ. Everyone wants to see clean air,’ he said.

‘But for some people, I think, given the chaos that there is in the economy, because the Conservatives have crashed it and the cost-of-living crisis that they fuelled, that this is the wrong time to introduce a charge for ULEZ.

‘The Mayor of London has called on the Government to fund a scrappage scheme, that means there wouldn’t be a need for charges and that’s the position that Labour’s candidate supported, as well.’

He added: ‘I think when the voters speak, any party that seeks to govern has to listen,’ he said. ‘So that’s what Labour will be doing after this.’

Susan Hall, the Tory candidate to run against Mr Khan at next year’s London mayoral election, said: ‘The message from Uxbridge and South Ruislip residents is loud and clear: Sadiq Khan and his disastrous ULEZ expansion have got to go.

‘Next May, voters can make that happen and choose a better, brighter future for our city.’

Polling expert and Tory peer Lord Hayward told MailOnline: ‘The big loser on the night is Sadiq Khan. He will get the blame, but Keir Starmer will have to answer the questions.’

He added: ‘This has implications not just for London suburbs, but there are places like Harlow and Thurrock, for all of which ULEZ is an important issue.’

Lord Hayward said combined with slightly brighter inflation figures this week Mr Sunak would be ‘much more comfortable than he expected’ going into the summer recess, but ‘still not comfortable’. 

The Lib Dem victory in Somerton and Frome is the party’s fourth by-election win since 2019 and will cause further angst among Tory MPs in ‘Blue Wall’ seats ahead of the next general election.

Sarah Dyke will now be the new MP in the Somerset constituency after securing a by-election victory by 11,000 votes following a dramatic swing away from the Tories.

She hailed her win in the Somerset seat as a ‘stunning and historic victory’.