Laurence Fox stands in Boris Johnson’s former seat and loses his deposit … again

Laurence Fox has lost his deposit after his disastrous election bid in Uxbridge culminated with him winning just 714 votes.

Fox, who recently came under fire for setting Pride flags on fire in his own back garden, was just one in a sea of candidates in the constituency Uxbridge & South Ruislip.

In the end, Conservative Party candidate Steve Tuckwell narrowly won the seat – which was vacated by Boris Johnson – with 13,965 votes. Labour’s Danny Beales finished in second place with 13,470 votes.

It was a poor showing for some of the other candidates in the race, with the Green Party and Liberal Democrat candidates failing to garner more than 1,000 votes.

Minor party candidates and independents fared even worse, but for many, Laurence Fox’s continued electoral failure was the main talking point.

The actor-turned-politician won just 2.31 per cent of the vote, meaning he will now lose the deposit he paid to run in the first place. Candidates must win five per cent of the vote share to retain their deposits.

Fox previously lost his £10,000 deposit in the 2021 London mayoral election, where he pledged to “fight against extreme political correctness” and “end the Met’s obsession with diversity and inclusivity”. He was endorsed by Reform UK and Nigel Farage, but finished in sixth place, behind YouTuber Niko Omilana. Fox received only 1.9 per cent of the vote. 

Since the by-election results were announced on Friday (21 July), Fox has used his social media platforms to hit out at the BBC and others for refusing to interview him.

Speaking from the count centre, Fox said: “The BBC have said under absolutely no circumstances they will speak to me. They didn’t give a reason.

“I feel sorry for the people that pay £157 a year for what is a so-called impartial media outlet, state funded media.”

He went on to accuse the broadcaster of being “about as reliable as North Korean state media”.

Later, as the count drew to a close, Fox said he was “very pleased” he had managed to get 2.31 per cent of the vote, adding: “Shows that promoting conservative values can win.”

Laurence Fox has said the Pride flag is ‘disgusting’

Before he turned to politics, Fox was best known as an actor – but in recent years he’s made a name for himself speaking out against COVID-19 restrictions and courting anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment.

Perhaps his most controversial moment came in Pride Month when he shared a video on Twitter of himself setting rainbow-coloured bunting on fire.

“The most holy month of child mutilation,” Fox said. “This is what I think of your disgusting, vile, child sacrificial flag.”

He added: “Goodbye Pride, which isn’t Pride. It’s just a celebration of the mutilation of children. And you can shove it.”

The previous year, Fox was suspended from Twitter temporarily after he created a swastika from the Progress Pride flag.

In May 2022, Fox was ordered to pay £36,000 in legal fees to Crystal, a drag queen who is best known for her time on Drag Race UK, former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and Coronation Street actor Nicola Thorp in an ongoing legal battle.

The trio launched a defamation suit against Fox after he publicly called them “paedophiles”.